Packing system

ABSTRACT

A packing system is provided comprising a first object and a sensing device. The first object comprises an interface surface having a plurality of tags printed thereon, with each tag containing coded data identifying the object. The sensing device is configured to read the tags and send data to a packing device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/815,641 filed on Apr. 2, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,485, all ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to unique object identification and, inparticular, to methods and systems for identifying and interacting withobjects.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with thepresent application:

10/815621 10/815612 10/815630 10/815637 10/815638 10/815640 10/8156427097094 7137549 10/815618 7156292 10/815635 10/815647 10/815634 71375667131596 7128265 10/815645 7175089 10/815617 10/815620 7178719 10/81561310/815633 10/815619 10/815616 10/815614 10/815636 7128270 10/8156097150398 7159777 10/815610 10/815611 7097106 7070110 10/815629 10/81562510/815624 10/815628

The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated hereinby cross-reference.

CROSS-REFERENCES

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present invention. The disclosures of allof these co-pending applications and granted patents are incorporatedherein by cross-reference.

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BACKGROUND

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and shouldnot be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that theprior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

For the purposes of automatic identification, a product item is commonlyidentified by a 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC), encodedmachine-readably in the form of a printed bar code. The most common UPCnumbering system incorporates a 5-digit manufacturer number and a5-digit item number. Because of its limited precision, a UPC is used toidentify a class of product rather than an individual product item. TheUniform Code Council and EAN International define and administer the UPCand related codes as subsets of the 14-digit Global Trade Item Number(GTIN).

Within supply chain management, there is considerable interest inexpanding or replacing the UPC scheme to allow individual product itemsto be uniquely identified and thereby tracked. Individual item taggingcan reduce “shrinkage” due to lost, stolen or spoiled goods, improve theefficiency of demand-driven manufacturing and supply, facilitate theprofiling of product usage, and improve the customer experience.

There are two main contenders for individual item tagging: visibletwo-dimensional bar codes, and radio frequency identification (RFID)tags.

There are a significant number of different bar code symbologies, whichallow data to be encoded as 2D visible markings, and these include, forexample:

-   -   “Code 49” described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,239;    -   “Data Matrix” described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,939,354, 5,053,609        and 5,124,536;    -   “Datastrip Code”, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos.        4,692,603, 4,728,783, 4,754,127, and 4,782,221;    -   “hueCode” described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,369,261 and 5,118,369;    -   “Maxicode” described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,874,936, 4,896,029 and        4,998,010;    -   “MiniCode” described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,153,418, 5,189,292 and        5,223,701; and,    -   “PDF 417” described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,655.

Bar codes have the advantage of being inexpensive, but require opticalline-of-sight for reading and in some cases appropriate orientation ofthe bar code relative to the sensor. Additionally they often detractfrom the appearance of the product label or packaging. Finally, damageto even a relatively minor portion of the bar code can preventsuccessful detection and interpretation of the bar code.

RFID tags have the advantage of supporting omnidirectional reading, butare comparatively expensive. Additionally, the presence of metal orliquid can seriously interfere with RFID tag performance, underminingthe omnidirectional reading advantage. Passive (reader-powered) RFIDtags are projected to be priced at 10 cents each in multi-millionquantities by the end of 2003, and at 5 cents each soon thereafter, butthis still falls short of the sub-one-cent industry target for low-priceitems such as grocery. The read-only nature of most optical tags hasbeen cited as a disadvantage, since status changes cannot be written toa tag as an item progresses through the supply chain. However, thisdisadvantage is mitigated by the fact that a read-only tag can refer toinformation maintained dynamically on a network.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Auto-ID Center hasdeveloped a standard for a 96-bit Electronic Product Code (EPC), coupledwith an Internet-based Object Name Service (ONS) and a Product MarkupLanguage (PML). Once an EPC is scanned or otherwise obtained, it is usedto look up, possibly via the ONS, matching product information portablyencoded in PML. The EPC consists of an 8-bit header, a 28-bit EPCmanager, a 24-bit object class, and a 36-bit serial number. For adetailed description of the EPC, refer to Brock, D. L., The ElectronicProduct Code (EPC), MIT Auto-ID Center (January 2001), the contents ofwhich are herein incorporated by cross-reference. The Auto-ID Center hasdefined a mapping of the GTIN onto the EPC to demonstrate compatibilitybetween the EPC and current practices Brock, D. L., Integrating theElectronic Product Code (EPC) and the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN),MIT Auto-ID Center (November 2001), the contents of which are hereinincorporated by cross-reference. The EPC is administered by EPCglobal,an EAN-UCC joint venture.

EPCs EPCs are technology-neutral and can be encoded and carried in manyforms. The Auto-ID Center strongly advocates the use of low-cost passiveRFID tags to carry EPCs, and has defined a 64-bit version of the EPC toallow the cost of RFID tags to be minimized in the short term. Fordetailed description of low-cost RFID tag characteristics, refer toSarma, S., Towards the 5c Tag, MIT Auto-ID Center (November 2001), thecontents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference. For adescription of a commercially-available low-cost passive RFID tag, referto 915 MHz RFID Tag, Alien Technology (2002), the contents of which areherein incorporated by cross-reference. For detailed description of the64-bit EPC, refer to Brock, D. L., The Compact Electronic Product Code,MIT Auto-ID Center (November 2001), the contents of which are hereinincorporated by cross-reference.

EPCs are intended not just for unique item-level tagging and tracking,but also for case-level and pallet-level tagging, and for tagging ofother logistic units of shipping and transportation such as containersand trucks. The distributed PML database records dynamic relationshipsbetween items and higher-level containers in the packaging, shipping andtransportation hierarchy.

IBM Business Consulting Services, in conjunction with the Auto-IDCenter, has carried out a number of case studies analysing andquantifying the costs and benefits of RFID-carried EPCs in the supplychain. They distinguish the benefits which accrue at different stages inthe supply chain (e.g. distribution versus retail), at different levelsof tagging (i.e. pallet versus case versus item), in response todifferent sources of loss (e.g. shrinkage versus unsaleables), andacross different product categories (e.g. grocery versus apparel versusconsumer electronics).

Since the Auto-ID Center exclusively advocates RFID-carried EPCs, thecase studies do not clearly distinguish the benefits which accrue fromEPCs alone from the benefits which accrue specifically from RFID tags.In addition, the case studies implicitly adopt a very optimistic view ofthe omni-directional scanning performance of RFID in the presence ofradiopaque product, i.e. typically liquid content and metal packaging.More broadly, the case studies do not clearly recognise benefits alreadybeginning to accrue from systemic supply chain changes, such as betterutilisation of UPC-based scan data collected at the point-of-sale,increasingly automated reordering and replenishment, and improvinglevels of communication and data sharing between different participantsin the supply chain. In many cases these changes are presented as ifpredicated on Auto-ID technologies such as RFID-carried EPCs, when infact they are not. This in turn tends to overstate the benefits of thesetechnologies.

The case studies implicitly assume that tagged units can be accuratelyscanned in bulk, e.g. when a pallet-load of tagged cases is moved withina distribution center. However, a study by Alien Technology, the firstmanufacturer of RFID tags conforming to the Auto-ID Center's UHF RFIDspecifications, shows that cases of radiopaque product (such as softdrinks, shampoo, detergent, and coffee in metal containers) can only beeffectively scanned when the case tags are within line-of-sight of tagreaders as discussed in Alien Technology, “RFID Supply ChainApplications—Building Test 1”, February 2002. In practice this meansthat pallets of radiopaque product must be split so that individualcases can be conveyed past tag readers, precluding pallet-leveloperations including storage and dock-to-dock transfer.

Although not directly explored in the Alien study, the same restrictionsapply at the item level. For example, while the case study onobsolescence Alexander, K. et al., Applying Auto-ID to Reduce LossesAssociated with Product Obsolescence, MIT Auto-ID Center, November 2002,assumes that shelf scanners in a retail store can perform a completescan of shelf stock, and the case study on shrinkage Alexander, K. etal., Applying Auto-ID to Reduce Losses Associated with Shrink, MITAuto-ID Center, November 2002, assumes that exit scanners in a retailstore can successfully read items jumbled together in a shopping cart orin grocery bags, in reality the presence of radiopaque product is likelyto undermine performance in these situations, thereby compromising someof the claimed benefits of RFID. The Auto-ID Center's own study ofsupermarket shelf reader design factors concludes that UHF radiopaqueproduct items should have their RFID tags attached to their tops withinline-of-sight of shelf readers Cole, P., A Study of Factors Affectingthe Design of EPC Antennas & Readers for Supermarket Shelves, MITAuto-ID Center, 1 Jun. 2002.

As with case-level RFID scanning in the distribution center, item-levelRFID scanning in the retail store works best when items are handledindividually, such as during stock movement to and from shelves, andduring the checkout process, i.e. where each item is allowed to fallwithin line-of-sight of the reader.

The case studies generally conclude that benefits accrue predominantlyfrom case-level tagging when the case is the primary unit of productmovement, which remains true right through the supply chain to theretail store backroom.

Benefits from item-level tagging begin to accrue in the retail storeonce cases are split and product hits the shelves, and these benefitsfall into three main categories: a reduced shrinkage rate; a reducedunsaleable rate; and reduced out-of-stocks (with less safety stock).These benefits are discussed in detail below.

Stage-relevant tagging levels are illustrated in FIG. 100.

The case studies assume seven product categories, summarised in Table 1.For every product category except grocery, the case studies concludethat item-level tagging is cost-effective. Specifically, the casestudies do not consider item-level RFID tagging in grocery to becost-effective because of the high cost of RFID tags relative to theaverage item price.

Note that if partial and incremental item-level RFID tagging ofhigher-value grocery items occurs (such as of packets of razor bladesAlien Technology, “Alien Announces Major Order for Low-cost RFID Tags”,6 Jan. 2003,http://www.alientechnology.com/library/pr/alien_gillette.htm, then fromthe point of view of per-tag cost it becomes more difficult to justifyitem-level tagging of remaining products, since the average price ofuntagged items has been reduced. Conversely, it may become easier tojustify from the point of view of sunk investment in readerinfrastructure.

TABLE 1 Product categories and average item prices product categoryaverage item price grocery $1.75 apparel $14 consumer electronics $130health & beauty $9 music & video $18 pharmacy $27 toys $18

The case studies therefore make a convincing argument for case-levelRFID tagging for all product categories. Additionally item-level RFIDtagging may be used for more expensive items.

With item-level tagging, each product item is assigned a unique EPC attime of manufacture. The item's EPC then serves as a key into adistributed PML database which records the characteristics of the itemand its evolving history as it proceeds through the supply chain. Thisincludes the item's inclusion in a dynamic hierarchy of packaging,shipping and transportation units, each identified by its own uniqueEPC. Tracking of higher-level units through the supply chain implicitlysupport the tracking of lower-level units. For example, once a pallet isloaded and until it is unloaded and split, pallet-level tracking issufficient to also track its case-level content. Similarly, once acarton is filled and until it is re-opened and split, case-leveltracking is sufficient to also track its item-level content. Readersinstalled in entry and exit portals in factories, warehouses,distribution centers and retail stores can automatically track unitmovements and update movement histories. Notwithstanding issues withautomatically tracking radiopaque product, RFID readers have benefitsfor pallet-level and case-level tracking.

At the checkout, the unique EPC of the item prevents it from beingrecorded as a sale more than once. This allows the checkout to bepartially or fully automated. Automatic scanning of a traditional UPCbar code, which only identifies item class, is problematic becausemultiple scans of the same item are difficult to avoid and impossible todetect from the bar code alone. In an automatic checkout the EPC of anitem is typically read many times to ensure that the EPC is read at all,but is only recorded as a sale once. The unique EPC also prevents thecheckout operator from multi-scanning a single item to account for anumber of similar items, a common time-saving practice which can lead toinventory inaccuracy and thereby undermine automatic reordering andreplenishment.

It has been suggested that an RFID-based automatic checkout process canbe as simple as wheeling a shopping cart full of RFID-tagged productitems through a checkout zone continuously scanned by one or more RFIDreaders.

In reality, due to issues with radiopaque grocery items, an RFID-basedautomatic checkout is likely to require each item to pass through theRFID reader's field individually. This may happen when the customerplaces the item in the cart, i.e. if the cart incorporates a reader, butis more likely to happen at the checkout where the operator or customereither places each item on a conveyor to transport the item through thereader's field, or manually presents each item to the reader's field.

Similarly, whilst the use of item-level RFID tagging arguably makes itpossible to construct so-called smart shelves which incorporate RFIDreaders and continuously monitor RFID-tagged shelf content, practicallythis is once again subject to performance in the presence of radiopaqueproduct.

The cost of the RFID tag approach is particularly of importance in thegrocery sector which is characterised by high-volume sales of low-pricedproduct items, coupled with low net margins. In 2001-2002 the UnitedStates grocery sector achieved net profits of 1.36% on net sales ofroughly $500 billion.

During the same period the grocery sector experienced a shrinkage rateof 1.42% and an unsaleable rate of 0.95% Lightburn, A., 2002 UnsaleablesBenchmark Report, Joint Industry Unsaleables Steering Committee 2002.Net profit and shrinkage were therefore roughly equal at $7 billioneach, and unsaleables accounted for an additional $5 billion.Out-of-stocks were further estimated to result in a 3% loss in net salesGrocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), Full-Shelf Satisfaction—ReducingOut-of-Stocks in the Grocery Channel (Executive Summary), 2002, whichtranslates into a $200 million reduction in net profit. The grocerysector is also highly labour-intensive, with labour costs accounting formore than 50% of operating expenses.

Profitable operation in the grocery sector therefore relies onmaximising efficiency, minimising losses due to shrinkage, minimisinglosses due to unsaleables, and minimising out-of-stocks while minimisinglevels of safety stock.

Table 2 summarises these sources of loss in the grocery sector.

TABLE 2 Sources of loss in the grocery sector approximate cost source ofloss contribution ($millions) shrinkage 1.42% 7,000 unsaleables 0.95%5,000 out-of-stocks 0.04% 204 total 2.41% 12,204

The grocery sector is likely to significantly reduce these sources ofloss over the coming decade, independently of item-level tagging, bybetter utilising UPC-based scan data collected at the point-of-sale, byincreasing the level of automation of reordering and replenishment, andby improving communication between different participants in the supplychain. Furthermore, the benefits of item-level tagging itself onlyaccrue if such systemic changes actually take place.

However, the cost of apply RFID tags to provide item level tagging tofurther enhance loss reduction is currently cost prohibitive.

As shown in Table 2, the cost of shrinkage, unsaleables andout-of-stocks amounts to about 2.41% of net sales. Assuming an averagegrocery item price of $1.75, this cost equates to about 4.2 cents.Further assuming universal tagging of grocery items, and ignoring othercosts and benefits of item-level tagging, such as the cost of the readerinfrastructure and the benefit of an improved consumer experience, 4.2cents represents an absolute upper limit on the threshold cost of a tagin the grocery sector.

The Auto-ID Center hopes to achieve a 5 cent EPC-compatible passive RFIDtag within the next couple of years, and Alien Technology are movingtowards that goal with a tag design which they expect to price at 10cents in multi-billion tag volumes by the end of 2003. Alien Technology,915 MHz RFID Tag, .Ghassali, M., Unsaleables “The U.S. Experience”,Unilever Bestfoods North America, 27 Mar. 2001. However, the 5 cent taggoal is still highly speculative, and even in multi-billion tag volumesthere is currently no projected timeline for achieving an RFID tag pricelower than 5 cents. Despite this, the IBM Auto-ID case studies assume atwo cent RFID tag within a couple of years in their most optimisticscenarios Alexander, K. et al., Applying Auto-ID to Reduce LossesAssociated with Shrink, MIT Auto-ID Center, November 2002.

Since even wildly optimistic projected cost savings only marginallyjustify the cost of the most optimistically-priced RFID tags, it isunlikely that universal item-level RFID tagging in the grocery sector isjustified in the foreseeable future.

In addition to this however, other disadvantages of the RFID taggingscheme, such as the difficulty of scanning in the presence of radiopaqueproducts, and issues surrounding privacy, make the use of RFID tagsundesirable in item-level tagging of more expensive products even wherethe RFID cost becomes negligible.

It is therefore desirable to find an alternative to the use of RFID tagsfor item level tagging which ensures reliable item identification, whichdoes not suffer from drawbacks such as reduced privacy for the consumer.It is also preferable that the technique provides a lower costalternative thereby allowing it to be economically used on groceryitems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the present invention provides a method of requestingassistance relating to a product item, the product item including anassociated interface surface, the interface surface having disposedthereon or therein coded data indicative of an identity of the productitem, the method including, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least some of the coded data;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data, indicating data        indicative of the product item identity; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to cause        provision of assistance.

In a further aspect the present invention provides method of providingassistance relating to a product item, the product item including anassociated interface surface, the interface surface having disposedthereon or therein coded data indicative of an identity of the productitem, wherein the method includes, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, identity        data indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (c) causing, using the identity data, provision of the        assistance.

In another aspect the present invention provides a method of providingassistance relating to a product item, wherein the method includesproviding the product item with an associated interface surface, theinterface surface having disposed thereon or therein coded dataindicative of an identity of the product item such that when the codeddata portion is sensed by a sensing device, the sensing device generatesindicating data indicative of the product item identity, the indicatingdata being transferred to a computer system which is responsive to theindicating data to cause provision of product assistance.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a sensing device foruse in requesting assistance relating to a product item, the productitem including an associated interface surface, the interface surfacehaving disposed thereon or therein coded data indicative of an identityof the product item, the sensing device including:

-   -   (a) a sensor for sensing the coded data;    -   (b) a processor for generating indicating data indicative of the        product item identity; and,    -   (c) a communication means for transferring the indicating data        to a computer system, the computer system being responsive to        the indicating data to cause provision of product assistance.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a computer system forproviding assistance relating to a product item, the product itemincluding an associated interface surface, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data indicative of an identity of theproduct item, wherein the computer system:

-   -   (a) receives indicating data generated by a sensing device in        response to sensing of the coded data, the indicating data being        indicative of the product item identity;    -   (b) generates, using the received indicating data, identity data        indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (c) causes, using the identity data, provision of the        assistance.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a product item, theproduct item having an associated interface surface, the interfacesurface having disposed thereon or therein coded data indicative of anidentity of the product item such that when the coded data portion issensed by a sensing device, the sensing device generates indicating dataindicative of the product item identity, the indicating data beingtransferred to a computer system which is responsive to the indicatingdata to cause provide product related assistance.

In a second aspect the present invention provides a method ofmaintaining a status of a product item, the product item including anassociated interface surface, the interface surface having disposedthereon or therein coded data including a plurality of coded dataportions, each coded data portion being indicative of an identity of theproduct item, the method including, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the product item identity; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        update product status information stored in a data store.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofmaintaining a status of a product item, the product item including anassociated interface surface, the interface surface having disposedthereon or therein coded data including a number of coded data portions,each coded data portion being indicative of an identity of the productitem, the method including, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, identity        data indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (c) update product status information stored in a data store.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofmaintaining a status of a product item, wherein the method includesproviding the product item with an associated interface surface, theinterface surface having disposed thereon or therein coded dataincluding a plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portionbeing indicative of an identity of the product item such that when thecoded data portion is sensed by a sensing device, the sensing devicegenerates indicating data indicative of the product item identity, theindicating data being transferred to a computer system which isresponsive to the indicating data to update product status informationstored in a data store.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a sensing device formaintaining a status of a product item, the product item including anassociated interface surface, the interface surface having disposedthereon or therein coded data including a plurality of coded dataportions, each coded data portion being indicative of an identity of theproduct item, the sensing device including:

-   -   (a) a sensor for sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) a processor for generating indicating data indicative of the        product item identity; and,    -   (c) a communication means for transferring the indicating data        to a computer system, the computer system being responsive to        the indicating data to update product status information stored        in a data store.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a computer system forproviding status information relating to a product item, the productitem including an associated interface surface, the interface surfacehaving disposed thereon or therein coded data including a plurality ofcoded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the product item, wherein the computer system:

-   -   (a) receives indicating data generated by a sensing device in        response to sensing of at least one coded data portion, the        indicating data being indicative of the product item identity;    -   (b) generates, using the received indicating data, identity data        indicative of the identity of the product item; and,    -   (c) updates, using the identity data, the product status        information stored in a data store.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a product item, theproduct item having an associated interface surface, the interfacesurface having disposed thereon or therein coded data including aplurality of coded data portions, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the product item such that when the codeddata portion is sensed by a sensing device, the sensing device generatesindicating data indicative of the product item identity, the indicatingdata being transferred to a computer system which is responsive to theindicating data to update product status information stored in a datastore.

In a third aspect the present invention provides coded data for disposalon or in an interface surface associated with a product item, whereinthe coded data includes a plurality of coded data portions disposed onor in the interface surface, and wherein each coded data portion isindicative of an identity of the product item such that sensing any oneof the coded data portions allows the identity of the product item to bedetermined.

In a further aspect the present invention provides an interface surfacefor use with a product item, the interface surface including coded dataincluding a plurality of coded data portions disposed on or in theinterface surface, and wherein each coded data portion is indicative ofan identity of the product item such that sensing any one of the codeddata portions allows the identity of the product item to be determined.

In a fourth aspect the present invention provides coded data fordisposal on or in an interface surface associated with a product item,the coded data being indicative of an identity of the product item, thecoded data being arranged in accordance with at least one layout havingn-fold rotational symmetry about a center of rotation, where n is atleast two, the layout including n identical sub-layouts rotated 1/nrevolutions apart about the center of rotation, at least one sub-layoutincluding rotation-indicating data that distinguishes that sub-layoutfrom each other sub-layout.

In a further aspect the present invention provides an interface surfacefor use with a product item, the interface surface including coded datadisposed thereon or therein, the coded data being indicative of anidentity of the product item, the coded data being arranged inaccordance with at least one layout having n-fold rotational symmetryabout a center of rotation, where n is at least two, the layoutincluding n identical sub-layouts rotated 1/n revolutions apart aboutthe center of rotation, at least one sub-layout includingrotation-indicating data that distinguishes that sub-layout from eachother sub-layout.

In a fifth aspect the present invention provides a method of determiningan orientation of a respective object, the object having an interfacesurface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein the codeddata includes a plurality of coded data portions provided at respectivepositions on the interface surface, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the object, and wherein the methodincludes, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the object identity and at least one of:        -   (i) a position of the sensed coded data portion;        -   (ii) a position of the sensing device relative to the            interface surface;        -   (iii) an orientation of the sensed coded data; and,        -   (iv) an orientation of the sensing device relative to the            interface surface; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        determine the orientation of the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofdetermining an orientation of a respective object, the object having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe coded data includes a plurality of coded data portions provided atrespective positions on the interface surface, each coded data portionbeing indicative of an identity of the object, and wherein the methodincludes, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the object and at        least one of:        -   (i) a position of the sensing device with respect to the            interface surface;        -   (ii) a position of the sensed coded data;        -   (iii) an orientation of the sensed coded data; and,        -   (iv) an orientation of the sensing device relative to the            interface surface.    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data:        -   (i) identity data indicative of the object identity; and,        -   (ii) position data indicative of at least one of:            -   (1) the position of the sensed coded data portion; and,            -   (2) a position of the sensing device relative to the                interface surface; and,    -   (c) determining, using the identity data and the position data,        orientation of the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofdetermining an orientation of a respective object, the object having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe interface surface includes at least one region having at least onecoded data portion provided therein, the at least one coded data portionbeing indicative of an identity of the region, and wherein the methodincludes, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the region identity; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        determine the orientation of the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofdetermining the orientation of a respective object, the object having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe interface surface includes at least one region having at least onecoded data portion provided therein, the at least one coded data portionbeing indicative of an identity of the region, and wherein the methodincludes, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the region:    -   (b) determining, using the indicating data, region identity data        indicative of the identity of the region; and,    -   (c) determining, using the region identity data, the orientation        of the object.

In a sixth aspect the present invention provides a method of packing anobject, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the method includes, in a sensingdevice:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to at least one of:        -   (i) a packing system which is responsive to the indication            to pack the object.        -   (ii) a computer system which is responsive to the indication            to cause a packing system to pack the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of packingan object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the method includes, in a packingsystem:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the object;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, object        identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) packing the object using the object identity data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of packingan object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion;        -   (ii) generating, using the sensed coded data portion,            indicating data indicative of the identity of the object;            and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to a packing system;            and,    -   (b) in the packing system;        -   (i) receiving the indicating data;        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data, object            identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,        -   (iii) packing the object using the object identity data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of packingan object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the method includes, in a computersystem:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the object;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, object        identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) causing, using the object identity data, a packing system to        pack the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of packingan object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion;        -   (ii) generating, using the sensed coded data portion,            indicating data indicative of the identity of the object;            and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to a computer system;            and,    -   (b) in the computer system;        -   (i) receiving the indicating data; and,        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data, object            identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,        -   (iii) causing, using the object identity data, a packing            system to pack the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for packingan object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object, wherein the system includes a sensing devicewhich:

-   -   (a) senses at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generates, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) transfers the indicating data to a packing system which is        responsive to the indication to pack the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for packinga object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object and the position of the coded data portion on theinterface surface, wherein the system includes a packing system which:

-   -   (a) receives, from a sensing device, indicating data generated        in response to sensing of a coded data portion, the indicating        data being indicative of the object identity;    -   (b) generates, from the received indicating data, object        identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) packs the object using the object identity data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for packinga object, the object having an interface surface having coded datadisposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includes a pluralityof coded data portions, each coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the object and the position of the coded data portion on theinterface surface, wherein the system includes a computer system which:

-   -   (a) receives, from a sensing device, indicating data generated        in response to sensing of a coded data portion, the indicating        data being indicative of the object identity;    -   (b) generates, from the received indicating data, object        identity data indicative of the identity of the object; and,    -   (c) causes, using the object identity data, a packing system to        pack the object.

In a seventh aspect the present invention provides a method ofassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, eachcoded data portion being indicative of an identity of the component,wherein the method includes, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing coded data on the component;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data, indicating data        indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to at least one of:        -   (i) an assembly system which is responsive to the indication            to assemble the object; and,        -   (ii) a computer system which is responsive to the indication            to cause an assembly system to assemble the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, eachcoded data portion being indicative of an identity of the component,wherein the method includes, in an assembly system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the component;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, component        identity data indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) assembling the object using the component identity data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofassembling an object, the component having an interface surface havingcoded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includesa plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the component, wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion;        -   (ii) generating, using the sensed coded data portion,            indicating data indicative of the identity of the component;            and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to an assembly            system; and,    -   (b) in the assembly system;        -   (i) receiving the indicating data;        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data            component identity data indicative of the identity of the            component; and,        -   (iii) assembling the object using the component identity            data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofassembling an object, the component having an interface surface havingcoded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein the coded data includesa plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the component, wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion;        -   (ii) generating, using the sensed coded data portion,            indicating data indicative of the identity of the component;            and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to a computer system;            and,    -   (b) in the computer system;        -   (i) receiving the indicating data;        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data,            component identity data indicative of the identity of the            component; and,        -   (iii) causing, using the component identity data, an            assembly system to assemble the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, eachcoded data portion being indicative of an identity of the component,wherein the method includes, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the component;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, component        identity data indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) causing, using the component identity data, an assembly        system to assemble the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system forassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe coded data includes a plurality of coded data portions, each codeddata portion being indicative of an identity of the component, whereinthe system includes a sensing device which:

-   -   (a) senses at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generates, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) transfers the indicating data to at least one of:        -   (i) an assembly system which is responsive to the indication            to assemble the object; and,        -   (ii) a computer system which is responsive to the indication            to cause an assembly system to assemble the object.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system forassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe coded data includes a plurality of coded data portions, each codeddata portion being indicative of an identity of the component and theposition of the coded data portion on the interface surface, wherein thesystem includes an assembly system which:

-   -   (a) receives, from a sensing device, indicating data generated        in response to sensing of a coded data portion, the indicating        data being indicative of the component identity;    -   (b) generates, from the received indicating data, component        identity data indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) assembles the object using the component identity data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system forassembling an object using a component, the component having aninterface surface having coded data disposed thereon or therein, whereinthe coded data includes a plurality of coded data portions, each codeddata portion being indicative of an identity of the component and theposition of the coded data portion on the interface surface, wherein thesystem includes a computer system which:

-   -   (a) receives, from a sensing device, indicating data generated        in response to sensing of a coded data portion, the indicating        data being indicative of the component identity;    -   (b) generates, from the received indicating data, component        identity data indicative of the identity of the component; and,    -   (c) causes, using the component identity data, an assembly        system to assemble the object.

In an eighth aspect the present invention provides a method ofidentifying a face of an object, the object having a plurality of faces,each face having coded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein thecoded data includes a plurality of coded data portions provided atrespective positions on each face, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the object, and wherein the methodincludes, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the object identity and at least one of:        -   (i) a position of the sensed coded data portion;        -   (ii) a position of the sensing device relative to the face;        -   (iii) an orientation of the sensed coded data; and,        -   (iv) an orientation of the sensing device relative to the            face; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        identify the face.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofidentifying a face of an object, the object having a plurality of faces,each face having coded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein thecoded data includes a plurality of coded data portions provided atrespective positions on each face, each coded data portion beingindicative of an identity of the object, and wherein the methodincludes, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the object and at        least one of:        -   (i) a position of the sensed coded data portion;        -   (ii) a position of the sensing device relative to the face;        -   (iii) an orientation of the sensed coded data; and,        -   (iv) an orientation of the sensing device relative to the            face; and,    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data:        -   (i) identity data indicative of the object identity; and,        -   (ii) position data indicative of at least one of:            -   (1) the position of the sensed coded data portion;            -   (2) the position of the sensing device relative to the                face;            -   (3) the orientation of the sensed coded data; and,            -   (4) the orientation of the sensing device relative to                the face; and,    -   (c) identifying, using the identity data and the position data,        the face.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofidentifying a face of an object, the object having a plurality of faces,each face having coded data disposed thereon or therein, each facehaving at least one region having at least one coded data portionprovided therein, the at least one coded data portion being indicativeof an identity of the region, and wherein the method includes, in asensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data portion, indicating        data indicative of the region identity; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        determine the face.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofidentifying a face of an object, the object having a surface havingcoded data disposed thereon or therein, wherein the face includes atleast one region having at least one coded data portion providedtherein, the at least one coded data portion being indicative of anidentity of the region, and wherein the method includes, in a computersystem:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the region:    -   (b) generating, using the indicating data, region identity data        indicative of the identity of the region; and,    -   (c) identifying, using the region identity data, the orientation        of the object.

In a ninth aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating communications using a product item, the product itemincluding an associated interface surface, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data indicative of an identity of theproduct item, the method including, in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least some of the coded data;    -   (b) generating, using the sensed coded data, indicating data        indicative of the product item identity; and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to a computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        facilitate communications.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating communications using a product item, the product itemincluding an associated interface surface, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data indicative of an identity of theproduct item, the method including, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing        device being responsive to sensing of the coded data to generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the product item;    -   (b) generating, using the received indicating data, identity        data indicative of the product item identity; and,    -   (c) facilitating communications using the product item identity.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating communications relating to a product item, wherein themethod includes providing the product item with an associated interfacesurface, the interface surface having disposed thereon or therein codeddata indicative of an identity of the product item such that when thecoded data portion is sensed by a sensing device, the sensing devicegenerates indicating data indicative of the product item identity, theindicating data being transferred to a computer system which isresponsive to the indicating data to facilitate communications.

In a tenth aspect the present invention provides a sensing device forsensing a product item provided in a sensing region, wherein the productitem includes an interface surface having disposed thereon at least oneof:

-   -   (a) coded data which includes, at a plurality of locations on        the interface surface, a corresponding plurality of coded data        portions, each coded data portion being indicative of an        identity of the product item; and,    -   (b) a barcode which encodes an identifier;        -   the sensing device including:        -   (i) a coded data sensor for sensing at least one coded data            portion;        -   (ii) a barcode sensor for sensing the barcode;        -   (iii) a processor for generating identity data indicative of            the identity of the product item using at least one of:            -   (1) the at least one sensed coded data portion; and,            -   (2) the barcode;    -   (c) a communicator for transferring the indicating data to a        computer system.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a sensing deviceadapted to scan a product item provided in a sensing region, wherein theproduct item includes an interface surface having disposed thereon atleast one of:

-   -   (a) coded data which includes, at a plurality of locations on        the interface surface, a corresponding plurality of coded data        portions, each coded data portion being indicative of an        identity of the product item, the product item being provided in        a sensing region; and,    -   (b) an RFID tag which encodes an identifier; and,        -   the sensing device including:        -   (i) a coded data sensor for sensing at least one coded data            portion;        -   (ii) a RFID tag reader for reading RFID tags;        -   (iii) a processor for determining indicating data using at            least one of:            -   (1) the identity of the product item determined from at                least one sensed coded data portion; and,            -   (2) the identifier determined using the RFID tag reader;    -   (c) a communicator for transferring the indicating data to a        computer system.

In an eleventh aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating interaction between a user and a computer system using aproduct item having an interface surface, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data including a plurality of codeddata portions, each coded data portion being indicative of an identityof the product item, the interaction being mediated by a sensing device,wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) associating the sensing device with the user;    -   (b) in the sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion when the sensing            device is placed in an operative position relative to the            interface surface; and        -   (ii) generating, using at least some of the sensed coded            data, indicating data indicative of the identity of the            product item and an identity of the sensing device; and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to a computer system;    -   (c) in the computer system:        -   (i) receiving the indicating data;        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data:            -   (1) product identity data indicative of the identity of                the product item;            -   (2) sensing device identity data indicative of the                identity of the sensing device; and,    -   (d) dissociating the sensing device and the user.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating interaction between a user and a computer system using aproduct item having an interface surface, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data including a plurality of codeddata portions, each coded data portion being indicative of an identityof the product item, the interaction being performed by a sensingdevice, wherein the method includes:

-   -   (a) associating the sensing device with the user;    -   (b) in a computer system:        -   (i) receiving indicating data generated by the sensing            device in response to sensing at least one coded data            portion, the indicating data being indicative of the            identity of the product item;        -   (ii) generating, using the received indicating data:            -   (1) product identity data indicative of the identity of                the product item;            -   (2) sensing device identity data indicative of an                identity of the sensing device; and,    -   (c) facilitating the interaction using the product identity data        and the sensing device identity data.

In a twelfth aspect the present invention provides a shoppingreceptacle, the shopping receptacle being adapted to receive and retaina product item, the product item having an interface surface associatedtherewith, the interface surface having disposed thereon or thereincoded data including a plurality of coded data portions, each coded dataportion being indicative of an identity of the product item, wherein thereceptacle comprises:

-   -   (a) a receptacle body adapted to receive and retain the product        item and having an opening through which the product item may be        placed within the receptacle body; and,    -   (b) a sensing device adapted to:        -   (i) emit at least one scanning beam across the opening of            the receptacle body;        -   (ii) sense at least one coded data portion on the interface            surface of the product item as the product item is            positioned in the receptacle opening; and        -   (iii) generate, using the at least one sensed coded data            portion, indicating data indicative of the identity of the            product item.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating interaction between a user and a computer system using ashopping receptacle adapted to receive and retain a product item, theproduct item having an interface surface associated therewith, theinterface surface having disposed thereon or therein coded dataincluding a plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portionbeing indicative of the identity of the product item, wherein the methodincludes:

-   -   (a) positioning the product item in an opening of a receptacle        body which is adapted to receive and retain the product item;        and,    -   (b) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least one coded data portion on the interface            surface of the product item as the product item is            positioned in the receptacle opening; and        -   (ii) generating, using the at least one sensed coded data            portion, indicating data indicative of the identity of the            product item; and,        -   (iii) transferring the indicating data to a computer system.

In a thirteenth aspect the present invention provides a shoppingreceptacle for facilitating interaction between a user and a computersystem, the receptacle being adapted to receive and retain a productitem having an interface surface associated therewith, the interfacesurface having disposed thereon or therein coded data including aplurality of coded data portions, each coded data portion beingindicative of the identity of the product item, wherein the receptaclecomprises:

-   -   (a) a receptacle body adapted to receive and retain the product        item; and,    -   (b) a sensing device adapted to:        -   (i) sense at least some of the coded data on the interface            surface of the product item as the product item is            positioned in a sensing region; and,        -   (ii) generate, using the sensed coded data, indicating data            indicative of the identity of the product item; and,        -   (iii) transfer the indicating data to the computer system;            and,    -   (c) a user interface for facilitating the interaction with the        computer system, the interaction being performed using the        indicating data.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating interaction between a user and a computer system using ashopping receptacle adapted to receive and retain a product item, theproduct item having an interface surface associated therewith, theinterface surface having disposed thereon or thereon coded dataincluding a plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portionbeing indicative of the identity of the product item, wherein the methodincludes:

-   -   (a) positioning the product item in a sensing region;    -   (b) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least some of the coded data on the interface            surface of the product item as the product item is            positioned in a sensing region; and,        -   (ii) generating, using the sensed coded data, indicating            data indicative of the identity of the product item; and,    -   (c) in a user interface, facilitating interaction in accordance        with the indicating data.

In a fourteenth aspect the present invention provides a shoppingreceptacle for receiving and retaining a product item having aninterface surface associated therewith, the interface surface havingdisposed thereon or therein coded data including a plurality of codeddata portions, each coded data portion being indicative of an identityof the product item, wherein the receptacle comprises:

-   -   (a) a receptacle body adapted to receive and retain the product        item and having an opening through which the product item may be        placed within the receptacle body;    -   (b) a sensing device adapted to sense at least some of the coded        data on the interface surface of the product item as the product        item is placed within the receptacle body, and generate        indicating data indicative of the identity of the product item;        and,    -   (c) a weighing device for sensing the weight of the product        item, and generating weight data indicative of the sensed        weight, the weight data and the product item identity being        provided to a computer system which:        -   (i) determines, using the indicating data, an indicated            weight of the product item in accordance with weight            indications stored in a data store;        -   (ii) compares the indicated weight to the sensed weight;            and,        -   (iii) is responsive to the comparison.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method offacilitating interaction between a user and a computer system using ashopping receptacle adapted to receive and retain a product item, theproduct item having an interface surface associated therewith, theinterface surface having disposed thereon or therein coded dataincluding a plurality of coded data portions, each coded data portionbeing indicative of the identity of the product item, wherein the methodincludes:

-   -   (a) receiving a product item in a receptacle body, the        receptacle body having an opening through which the product item        may be placed within the receptacle body;    -   (b) in a sensing device:        -   (i) sensing at least some of the coded data on the interface            surface of the product item as the product item is placed            within the receptacle body; and,        -   (ii) determining indicating data indicative of the identity            of the product item; and,    -   (c) in a weighing device:        -   (i) sensing the weight of the product item; and,        -   (ii) generating weight data indicative of the sensed weight,            the weight data and the product item identity being provided            to a computer system which:            -   (1) determines, using the indicating data, an indicated                weight of the product item in accordance with weight                indications stored in a data store;            -   (2) compares the indicated weight to the sensed weight;                and,            -   (3) is responsive to the comparison to perform an                action.

In a fifteenth aspect the present invention provides a card foridentifying a user to a computer system using a sensing device, the cardhaving an interface surface having disposed thereon or therein codeddata, the coded data including a plurality of coded data portions, eachcoded data portion being indicative of an identity of the user, thesensing device being adapted to:

-   -   (a) sense at least one coded data portion;    -   (b) generate, using the at least one sensed coded data portion,        indicating data indicative of the identity of the user; and,    -   (c) transfer the indicating data to the computer system, the        computer system being responsive to determine, using the        indicating data, the identity of the user.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of using acard for facilitating interaction between a user and a computer system,the card having an interface surface having disposed thereon or thereincoded data, the coded data including a plurality of coded data portions,each coded data portion being indicative of an identity of the user,wherein the method includes in a sensing device:

-   -   (a) sensing at least one coded data portion when the sensing        device is placed in an operative position relative to the        interface surface;    -   (b) generating, using the at least one sensed coded data        portion, indicating data indicative of the identity of the user;        and,    -   (c) transferring the indicating data to the computer system, the        computer system being responsive to the indicating data to        perform an action.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of creatinga card for facilitating interaction between a user and a computersystem, the method including, in a computer system:

-   -   (a) receiving information indicative of an identity of the user;    -   (b) generating at least one coded data portion indicative of the        identity of the user; and,    -   (c) disposing coded data on an interface surface of the card,        the coded data including a plurality of the coded data portions        disposed to thereby allow the identity of the user to be        determined by sensing any one of the data portions with a        sensing device.

In a sixteenth aspect the present invention provides a method ofprinting an interface surface associated with a product item, the methodincluding in a computer system:

-   -   (a) determining product identity data indicative of an identity        of the product item; and,    -   (b) controlling a printer to thereby print a plurality of coded        data portions on the interface surface, each coded data portion        being indicative of the product identity data such the product        identity data can be determined by sensing any one of the coded        data portions with a sensing device.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofindicating an identity of a product item, the method including:

-   -   (a) determining indicating data indicative of an identity of the        product item;    -   (b) determining, using the indicating data, at least one coded        data portion indicative of the identity of the product item;        and,    -   (c) determining, using the indicating data, at least one barcode        indicative of the identity of the product item; and,    -   (d) printing, on an interface surface associated with the        product item:        -   (i) a plurality of coded data portions on the interface            surface, each coded data portion being indicative of the            product identity data such that the product identity data            can be determined by sensing any one of the coded data            portions with a sensing device; and,        -   (ii) the barcode.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method ofindicating an identity of a product item, the method including:

-   -   (a) determining indicating data indicative of an identity of the        product item;    -   (b) determining, using the indicating data, at least one coded        data portion indicative of the identity of the product item;        and,    -   (c) determining, using the indicating data, at least one barcode        indicative of the identity of the product item; and,    -   (d) printing, on an interface surface associated with the        product item, a plurality of coded data portions, each coded        data portion being indicative of the product identity data such        the product identity data can be determined by sensing any one        of the coded data portions with a sensing device; and,    -   (e) encoding the product identity data in an RFID tag.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a printer forprinting an interface surface associated with a product item, theprinter being adapted to print a plurality of coded data portions on theinterface surface, each coded data portion being indicative of productidentity data, and the product identity data being indicative of anidentity of the product item, such that the product identity data can bedetermined by sensing any one of the coded data portions with a sensingdevice.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for printingan interface surface associated with a product item, the systemincluding:

-   -   (f) a computer system for:        -   (i) receiving indicating data indicative of an identity of            the product item; and,        -   (ii) generating, using the indicating data, product identity            data indicative of the identity of the product item; and,    -   (g) a printing system for printing a plurality of coded data        portions on the interface surface, each coded data portion being        indicative of the product identity data such the product        identity data can be determined by sensing any one of the coded        data portions with a sensing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred and other embodiments of the invention will now be described,by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample printednetpage and its online page description;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a interaction between a netpage pen, a Webterminal, a netpage printer, a netpage relay, a netpage page server, anda netpage application server, and a Web server;

FIG. 3 illustrates a collection of netpage servers, Web terminals,printers and relays interconnected via a network;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a printednetpage and its online page description;

FIG. 5 a is a plan view showing the interleaving and rotation of thesymbols of four codewords of the tag;

FIG. 5 b is a plan view showing a macrodot layout for the tag shown inFIG. 5 a;

FIG. 5 c is a plan view showing an arrangement of nine of the tags shownin FIGS. 5 a and 5 b, in which targets are shared between adjacent tags;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a set of the tagsshown in FIG. 5 a and a field of view of a netpage sensing device in theform of a netpage pen;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processing and decoding algorithm;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its associatedtag-sensing field-of-view cone;

FIG. 9 is a perspective exploded view of the netpage pen shown in FIG.8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for the netpagepen shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted netpage printer;

FIG. 12 is a section through the length of the netpage printer of FIG.11;

FIG. 12 a is an enlarged portion of FIG. 12 showing a section of theduplexed print engines and glue wheel assembly;

FIG. 13 is a detailed view of the ink cartridge, ink, air and gluepaths, and print engines of the netpage printer of FIGS. 11 and 12;

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a printer controller for thenetpage printer shown in FIGS. 11 and 12;

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of duplexed print enginecontrollers and Memjet™ printheads associated with the printercontroller shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of the print engine controllershown in FIGS. 14 and 15;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a single Memjet™ printing element, asused in, for example, the netpage printer of FIGS. 10 to 12;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the structure of an item ID;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the structure of a Hyperlabel™ tag;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a product item and object ownership andpackaging hierarchy class diagram;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a user class diagram;

FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a printer class diagram;

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of a pen class diagram;

FIG. 24 is a schematic view of an application class diagram;

FIG. 25 is a schematic view of a document and page description classdiagram;

FIG. 26 is a schematic view of a document and page ownership classdiagram;

FIG. 27 is a schematic view of a terminal element specialization classdiagram;

FIG. 28 is a schematic view of a static element specialization classdiagram;

FIG. 29 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element class diagram;

FIG. 30 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element specialization classdiagram;

FIG. 31 is a schematic view of a hyperlinked group class diagram;

FIG. 32 is a schematic view of a form class diagram;

FIG. 33 is a schematic view of a digital ink class diagram;

FIG. 34 is a schematic view of a field element specialization classdiagram;

FIG. 35 is a schematic view of a checkbox field class diagram;

FIG. 36 is a schematic view of a text field class diagram;

FIG. 37 is a schematic view of a signature field class diagram;

FIG. 38 is a flowchart of an input processing algorithm;

FIG. 38 a is a detailed flowchart of one step of the flowchart of FIG.38;

FIG. 39 is a schematic view of a page server command element classdiagram;

FIG. 40 is a schematic view of a subscription delivery protocol;

FIG. 41 is a schematic view of a hyperlink request class diagram;

FIG. 42 is a schematic view of a hyperlink activation protocol;

FIG. 43 is a schematic view of a form submission protocol;

FIG. 44 shows a triangular macrodot packing with a four-bit symbol unitoutlined, for use with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 45 shows a square macrodot packing with a four-bit symbol unitoutlined, for use with an embodiment of the invention such as thatdescribed in relation to FIGS. 5 a to 5 c;

FIG. 46 shows a one-sixth segment of an hexagonal tag, with the segmentcontaining a maximum of 11 four-bit symbols with the triangular macrodotpacking shown in FIG. 44;

FIG. 47 shows a one-quarter segment of a square tag, with the segmentcontaining a maximum of 15 four-bit symbols with the square macrodotpacking shown in FIG. 45;

FIG. 48 shows a logical layout of a hexagonal tag using the tag segmentof FIG. 47, with six interleaved 2⁴-ary (11, k) codewords;

FIG. 49 shows the macrodot layout of the hexagonal tag of FIG. 48;

FIG. 50 shows an arrangement of seven abutting tags of the design ofFIGS. 48 and 49, with shared targets;

FIG. 51 shows a logical layout of an alternative hexagonal tag using thetag segment of FIG. 47, with three interleaved 2⁴-ary (9, k) codewordsand three interleaved three-symbol fragments of three distributed 2⁴-ary(9, k) codewords;

FIG. 52 shows the logical layout of an orientation-indicating cyclicposition codeword of the hexagonal tag of FIG. 51;

FIG. 53 shows three adjacent tags of type P, Q and R, each with thelayout of the tag of FIG. 51, containing a complete set of distributedcodewords;

FIG. 54 shows the logical layout of yet another alternative hexagonaltag using the tag segment of FIG. 47, with one local 2⁴-ary (12, k)codeword, interleaved with eighteen 3-symbol fragments of eighteendistributed 2⁴-ary (9, k) codewords;

FIG. 55 shows the logical layout of the hexagonal tag of FIG. 54,re-arranged to show the distributed 3-symbol fragments which contributeto the same codewords;

FIG. 56 is a schematic view of a physical product item and its onlinedescription;

FIG. 57 is a schematic view of the interaction between a product item, afixed product scanner, a hand-held product scanner, a scanner relay, aproduct server, and a product application server;

FIG. 58 shows a plan and elevation view of a hand-held Hyperlabel™scanner 4000 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 59 shows a cross-sectional view A of the scanner of FIG. 58;

FIG. 60 shows a cross-sectional view B of the scanner of FIG. 58;

FIG. 61 shows an exploded view of the hand-held scanner;

FIG. 62 shows a view of the optical and electronic sub-assemblies of thehand-held scanner;

FIG. 63 shows a close-up view of the optical sub-assembly;

FIG. 64 shows an exploded view of the optical sub-assembly;

FIG. 65 shows a plan and elevation view of a netpage pen 3000 accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 66 shows a cross-sectional view A of the pen of FIG. 65;

FIG. 67 shows a cross-sectional view B of the pen of FIG. 65;

FIG. 68 shows a view of the optical and electronic sub-assemblies of thepen;

FIG. 69 shows a block diagram of salient aspects of the electronics ofthe scanner and pen;

FIG. 70 shows a view of a glove Hyperlabel™ scanner 5000 according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 71 is a schematic diagram of the optics of the glove scanner ofFIG. 70;

FIG. 72 shows a plan and elevation view of a hand-held Hyperlabel™scanner 4200 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 73 shows a cross-sectional view A of the scanner of FIG. 72;

FIG. 74 shows a block diagram of salient aspects of the electronics ofthe scanner and pen;

FIG. 75 shows the return light detection path of the scanner of FIG. 72;

FIG. 76 shows a schematic of a first example of a fixed Hyperlabel™laser scanner 1500 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 77 shows the beam steering mirror of the scanner in a nominalposition;

FIG. 78 shows the beam steering mirror of the scanner in a “low”position;

FIG. 79 shows the beam steering mirror of the scanner in a “high”position;

FIG. 80 shows the beam steering mirror of the scanner selecting analternative deflection mirror;

FIG. 81 shows the return light detection path of the scanner;

FIG. 82 shows an elevation view of the scanner incorporated in thecheckout;

FIG. 83 shows a plan view of the scanner incorporated in the checkout,showing beam paths below the conveyor;

FIG. 84 shows a plan view of the scanner incorporated in the checkout,showing beam paths above the conveyor; and

FIG. 85 shows a block diagram of salient aspects of the electronics ofthe scanner FIG. 76; and,

FIG. 86 shows a schematic of a second example of a fixed Hyperlabel™laser scanner 1500 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 87 shows a schematic of a third example of a fixed Hyperlabel™laser scanner 1500 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 88 shows a view of a first example of a checkout 1000 incorporatinga fixed Hyperlabel™ laser scanner 1500, both according to preferredembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 89 shows a plan view of the checkout of FIG. 88;

FIG. 90 shows a close-up view of the checkout of FIG. 88;

FIG. 91 shows close-up view of the checkout of FIG. 88 from theoperator's point of view;

FIG. 92 shows a side view of the conveyor of a second example of thecheckout of FIG. 88;

FIG. 93 shows the molecular structure of isophorone nickel dithiolate;

FIG. 94 shows the absorption spectrum of the dye of FIG. 93;

FIG. 95 shows the molecular structure camphor sulfonic nickeldithiolate;

FIG. 96 shows the absorption spectrum of the dye of FIG. 95;

FIG. 97 is a graph of threshold tag cost as a function of projected costsavings;

FIG. 98 is a schematic diagram of an interface description class usedfor recording relationships between ranges of item IDs and particularinterface descriptions;

FIG. 99 is a schematic diagram of an example of interaction between anetpage pen and a Web server;

FIG. 100 is a block diagram of tagging levels in the supply chain;

FIG. 101 is a schematic view of a first example of a product itemregistration protocol;

FIG. 102 is a schematic view of a second example of a product itemregistration protocol;

FIG. 103 is a schematic view of an interface for providing SMSfunctionality;

FIG. 104 is a schematic view of an example of a packing system;

FIG. 105 is a schematic perspective view of a first example of ashopping receptacle adapted to sense product items;

FIG. 106 is a schematic side view of the shopping receptacle of FIG.105;

FIG. 107 of a schematic perspective view of a second example of ashopping receptacle adapted to sense product items;

FIG. 108 of a schematic side view of a third example of a shoppingreceptacle adapted to sense product items;

FIG. 109 is a schematic view of a loyalty card incorporating coded data;

FIG. 110 is a schematic perspective view of a printing system forprinting coded data on product items;

FIGS. 111 to 113 are examples of procedures for printing coded data onproduct items; and,

FIG. 114 is schematic representation of an example of a scanning systemfor sensing bar codes and coded data.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Note: Memjet™ is a trade mark of Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd,Australia.

In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to work withthe netpage networked computer system, a detailed overview of whichfollows. It will be appreciated that not every implementation willnecessarily embody all or even most of the specific details andextensions discussed below in relation to the basic system. However, thesystem is described in its most complete form to reduce the need forexternal reference when attempting to understand the context in whichthe preferred embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate.

In brief summary, the preferred form of the netpage system employs acomputer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that is, a physicalsurface which contains references to a map of the surface maintained ina computer system. The map references can be queried by an appropriatesensing device. Depending upon the specific implementation, the mapreferences may be encoded visibly or invisibly, and defined in such away that a local query on the mapped surface yields an unambiguous mapreference both within the map and among different maps. The computersystem can contain information about features on the mapped surface, andsuch information can be retrieved based on map references supplied by asensing device used with the mapped surface. The information thusretrieved can take the form of actions which are initiated by thecomputer system on behalf of the operator in response to the operator'sinteraction with the surface features.™

In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of,and human interaction with, netpages. These are pages of text, graphicsand images printed on ordinary paper, but which work like interactiveweb pages. Information is encoded on each page using ink which issubstantially invisible to the unaided human eye. The ink, however, andthereby the coded data, can be sensed by an optically imaging pen andtransmitted to the netpage system.

In the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each page can beclicked with the pen to request information from the network or tosignal preferences to a network server. In one embodiment, text writtenby hand on a netpage is automatically recognized and converted tocomputer text in the netpage system, allowing forms to be filled in. Inother embodiments, signatures recorded on a netpage are automaticallyverified, allowing e-commerce transactions to be securely authorized.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a printed netpage 1 can represent ainteractive form which can be filled in by the user both physically, onthe printed page, and “electronically”, via communication between thepen and the netpage system. The example shows a “Request” formcontaining name and address fields and a submit button. The netpageconsists of graphic data 2 printed using visible ink, and coded data 3printed as a collection of tags 4 using invisible ink. The correspondingpage description 5, stored on the netpage network, describes theindividual elements of the netpage. In particular it describes the typeand spatial extent (zone) of each interactive element (i.e. text fieldor button in the example), to allow the netpage system to correctlyinterpret input via the netpage. The submit button 6, for example, has azone 7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the correspondinggraphic 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the netpage pen 101, a preferred form of whichis shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and described in more detail below, works inconjunction with a personal computer (PC), Web terminal 75, or a netpageprinter 601. The netpage printer is an Internet-connected printingappliance for home, office or mobile use. The pen is wireless andcommunicates securely with the netpage network via a short-range radiolink 9. Short-range communication is relayed to the netpage network by alocal relay function which is either embedded in the PC, Web terminal ornetpage printer, or is provided by a separate relay device 44. The relayfunction can also be provided by a mobile phone or other device whichincorporates both short-range and longer-range communications functions.

In an alternative embodiment, the netpage pen utilises a wiredconnection, such as a USB or other serial connection, to the PC, Webterminal, netpage printer or relay device.

The netpage printer 601, a preferred form of which is shown in FIGS. 11to 13 and described in more detail below, is able to deliver,periodically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazines, catalogs,brochures and other publications, all printed at high quality asinteractive netpages. Unlike a personal computer, the netpage printer isan appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an areawhere the morning news is first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen,near a breakfast table, or near the household's point of departure forthe day. It also comes in tabletop, desktop, portable and miniatureversions.

netpages printed at their point of consumption combine the ease-of-useof paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium.

As shown in FIG. 2, the netpage pen 101 interacts with the coded data ona printed netpage 1 (or product item 201) and communicates theinteraction via a short-range radio link 9 to a relay. The relay sendsthe interaction to the relevant netpage page server 10 forinterpretation. In appropriate circumstances, the page server sends acorresponding message to application computer software running on anetpage application server 13. The application server may in turn send aresponse which is printed on the originating printer.

In an alternative embodiment, the PC, Web terminal, netpage printer orrelay device may communicate directly with local or remote applicationsoftware, including a local or remote Web server. Relatedly, output isnot limited to being printed by the netpage printer. It can also bedisplayed on the PC or Web terminal, and further interaction can bescreen-based rather than paper-based, or a mixture of the two.

The netpage system is made considerably more convenient in the preferredembodiment by being used in conjunction with high-speedmicroelectromechanical system (MEMS) based inkjet (Memjet™) printers. Inthe preferred form of this technology, relatively high-speed andhigh-quality printing is made more affordable to consumers. In itspreferred form, a netpage publication has the physical characteristicsof a traditional newsmagazine, such as a set of letter-size glossy pagesprinted in full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigationand comfortable handling.

The netpage printer exploits the growing availability of broadbandInternet access. Cable service is available to 95% of households in theUnited States, and cable modem service offering broadband Internetaccess is already available to 20% of these. The netpage printer canalso operate with slower connections, but with longer delivery times andlower image quality. Indeed, the netpage system can be enabled usingexisting consumer inkjet and laser printers, although the system willoperate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from aconsumer's point of view. In other embodiments, the netpage system ishosted on a private intranet. In still other embodiments, the netpagesystem is hosted on a single computer or computer-enabled device, suchas a printer.

netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are configured todeliver print-quality publications to netpage printers. Periodicalpublications are delivered automatically to subscribing netpage printersvia pointcasting and multicasting Internet protocols. Personalizedpublications are filtered and formatted according to individual userprofiles.

A netpage printer can be configured to support any number of pens, and apen can work with any number of netpage printers. In the preferredimplementation, each netpage pen has a unique identifier. A householdmay have a collection of colored netpage pens, one assigned to eachmember of the family. This allows each user to maintain a distinctprofile with respect to a netpage publication server or applicationserver.

A netpage pen can also be registered with a netpage registration server11 and linked to one or more payment card accounts. This allowse-commerce payments to be securely authorized using the netpage pen. Thenetpage registration server compares the signature captured by thenetpage pen with a previously registered signature, allowing it toauthenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce server. Otherbiometrics can also be used to verify identity. A version of the netpagepen includes fingerprint scanning, verified in a similar way by thenetpage registration server.

Although a netpage printer may deliver periodicals such as the morningnewspaper without user intervention, it can be configured never todeliver unsolicited junk mail. In its preferred form, it only deliversperiodicals from subscribed or otherwise authorized sources. In thisrespect, the netpage printer is unlike a fax machine or e-mail accountwhich is visible to any junk mailer who knows the telephone number oremail address.

1 Netpage System Architecture

Each object model in the system is described using a Unified ModelingLanguage (UML) class diagram. A class diagram consists of a set ofobject classes connected by relationships, and two kinds ofrelationships are of interest here: associations and generalizations. Anassociation represents some kind of relationship between objects, i.e.between instances of classes. A generalization relates actual classes,and can be understood in the following way: if a class is thought of asthe set of all objects of that class, and class A is a generalization ofclass B, then B is simply a subset of A. The UML does not directlysupport second-order modelling—i.e. classes of classes.

Each class is drawn as a rectangle labelled with the name of the class.It contains a list of the attributes of the class, separated from thename by a horizontal line, and a list of the operations of the class,separated from the attribute list by a horizontal line. In the classdiagrams which follow, however, operations are never modelled.

An association is drawn as a line joining two classes, optionallylabelled at either end with the multiplicity of the association. Thedefault multiplicity is one. An asterisk (*) indicates a multiplicity of“many”, i.e. zero or more. Each association is optionally labelled withits name, and is also optionally labelled at either end with the role ofthe corresponding class. An open diamond indicates an aggregationassociation (“is-part-of”), and is drawn at the aggregator end of theassociation line.

A generalization relationship (“is-a”) is drawn as a solid line joiningtwo classes, with an arrow (in the form of an open triangle) at thegeneralization end.

When a class diagram is broken up into multiple diagrams, any classwhich is duplicated is shown with a dashed outline in all but the maindiagram which defines it. It is shown with attributes only where it isdefined.

1.1 Netpages

netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is built. Theyprovide a paper-based user interface to published information andinteractive services.

A netpage consists of a printed page (or other surface region) invisiblytagged with references to an online description of the page. The onlinepage description is maintained persistently by a netpage page server.The page description describes the visible layout and content of thepage, including text, graphics and images. It also describes the inputelements on the page, including buttons, hyperlinks, and input fields. Anetpage allows markings made with a netpage pen on its surface to besimultaneously captured and processed by the netpage system.

Multiple netpages can share the same page description. However, to allowinput through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished, eachnetpage is assigned a unique page identifier. This page ID hassufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number ofnetpages.

Each reference to the page description is encoded in a printed tag. Thetag identifies the unique page on which it appears, and therebyindirectly identifies the page description. The tag also identifies itsown position on the page. Characteristics of the tags are described inmore detail below.

Tags are printed in infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate which isinfrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper. Near-infrared wavelengthsare invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-stateimage sensor with an appropriate filter.

A tag is sensed by an area image sensor in the netpage pen, and the tagdata is transmitted to the netpage system via the nearest netpageprinter. The pen is wireless and communicates with the netpage printervia a short-range radio link. Tags are sufficiently small and denselyarranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on asingle click on the page. It is important that the pen recognize thepage ID and position on every interaction with the page, since theinteraction is stateless. Tags are error-correctably encoded to makethem partially tolerant to surface damage.

The netpage page server maintains a unique page instance for eachprinted netpage, allowing it to maintain a distinct set of user-suppliedvalues for input fields in the page description for each printednetpage.

The relationship between the page description, the page instance, andthe printed netpage is shown in FIG. 4. The printed netpage may be partof a printed netpage document 45. The page instance is associated withboth the netpage printer which printed it and, if known, the netpageuser who requested it.

As shown in FIG. 4, one or more netpages may also be associated with aphysical object such as a product item, for example when printed ontothe product item's label, packaging, or actual surface.

1.2 Coded Data on Surfaces Using Netpage Tags

Various netpage coding schemes and patterns are described in the presentapplicants' co-pending U.S. application U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,154entitled “Identity-Coded Surface with Reference Points”, filed 23 May2000; co-pending U.S. application U.S. Ser. No. 10/120,441 entitled“Cyclic Position Codes”, filed 12 Apr. 2002; co-pending U.S. applicationU.S. Ser. No. 10/309,358 entitled “Rotationally Symmetric Tags”, filed 4Dec. 2002; co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/409,864 entitled“Orientation-Indicating Cyclic Position Codes”, filed 9 Apr. 2003; andco-pending U.S. Application U.S. Ser. No. 10/786,631 entitled “SymmetricTags”, filed 4 Mar. 2004.

1.2.1 Tag Data Content

In a preferred form, each tag identifies the region in which it appears,and the location of that tag within the region. A tag may also containflags which relate to the region as a whole or to the tag. One or moreflag bits may, for example, signal a tag sensing device to providefeedback indicative of a function associated with the immediate area ofthe tag, without the sensing device having to refer to a description ofthe region. A netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an “active area”LED when in the zone of a hyperlink.

The tags preferably tile the entire page, and are sufficiently small anddensely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag evenon a single click on the page. It is important that the pen recognizethe page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since theinteraction is stateless.

In a preferred embodiment, the region to which a tag refers coincideswith an entire page, and the region ID encoded in the tag is thereforesynonymous with the page ID of the page on which the tag appears. Inother embodiments, the region to which a tag refers can be an arbitrarysubregion of a page or other surface. For example, it can coincide withthe zone of an interactive element, in which case the region ID candirectly identify the interactive element.

Each tag typically contains 16 bits of tag ID, at least 90 bits ofregion ID, and a number of flag bits. Assuming a maximum tag density of64 per square inch, a 16-bit tag ID supports a region size of up to 1024square inches. Larger regions can be mapped continuously withoutincreasing the tag ID precision simply by using abutting regions andmaps. The distinction between a region ID and a tag ID is mostly one ofconvenience. For most purposes the concatenation of the two can beconsidered as a globally unique tag ID. Conversely, it may also beconvenient to introduce structure into the tag ID, for example to definethe x and y coordinates of the tag. A 90-bit region ID allows 2⁹⁰ (10²⁷˜or a thousand trillion trillion) different regions to be uniquelyidentified. A 100-bit region ID allows 2¹⁰⁰ (˜10³⁰ or a million trilliontrillion) different regions to be uniquely identified. Tags may alsocontain type information, and a region may be tagged with a mixture oftag types. For example, a region may be tagged with one set of tagsencoding x coordinates and another set, interleaved with the first,encoding y coordinates. It will be appreciated the region ID and tag IDprecision may be more or less than just described depending on theenvironment in which the system will be used.

1.2.2 Tag Data Encoding

In one embodiment, the 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encodedusing a (15, 5) Reed-Solomon code. This yields 360 encoded bitsconsisting of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each. The (15, 5) codeallows up to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword, i.e. it istolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per codeword.

Each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent way in the tag,and the symbols of the six codewords are interleaved spatially withinthe tag. This ensures that a burst error (an error affecting multiplespatially adjacent bits) damages a minimum number of symbols overall anda minimum number of symbols in any one codeword, thus maximising thelikelihood that the burst error can be fully corrected.

Any suitable error-correcting code can be used in place of a (15, 5)Reed-Solomon code, for example: a Reed-Solomon code with more or lessredundancy, with the same or different symbol and codeword sizes;another block code; or a different kind of code, such as a convolutionalcode (see, for example, Stephen B. Wicker, Error Control Systems forDigital Communication and Storage, Prentice-Hall 1995, the contents ofwhich a herein incorporated by reference thereto).

In order to support “single-click” interaction with a tagged region viaa sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see at least oneentire tag in its field of view no matter where in the region or at whatorientation it is positioned. The required diameter of the field of viewof the sensing device is therefore a function of the size and spacing ofthe tags.

1.2.3 Tag Structure

FIG. 5 a shows a tag 4, in the form of tag 726 with four perspectivetargets 17. The tag 726 represents sixty 4-bit Reed-Solomon symbols 747(see description of FIGS. 44 to 46 below for discussion of symbols), fora total of 240 bits. The tag represents each “one” bit by the presenceof a mark 748, referred to as a macrodot, and each “zero” bit by theabsence of the corresponding macrodot. FIG. 5 c shows a square tiling728 of nine tags, containing all “one” bits for illustrative purposes.It will be noted that the perspective targets are designed to be sharedbetween adjacent tags. FIG. 6 shows a square tiling of 16 tags and acorresponding minimum field of view 193, which spans the diagonals oftwo tags.

Using a (15, 7) Reed-Solomon code, 112 bits of tag data are redundantlyencoded to produce 240 encoded bits. The four codewords are interleavedspatially within the tag to maximize resilience to burst errors.Assuming a 16-bit tag ID as before, this allows a region ID of up to 92bits.

The data-bearing macrodots 748 of the tag are designed to not overlaptheir neighbors, so that groups of tags cannot produce structures thatresemble targets. This also saves ink. The perspective targets allowdetection of the tag, so further targets are not required.

Although the tag may contain an orientation feature to allowdisambiguation of the four possible orientations of the tag relative tothe sensor, the present invention is concerned with embeddingorientation data in the tag data. For example, the four codewords can bearranged so that each tag orientation (in a rotational sense) containsone codeword placed at that orientation, as shown in FIG. 5 a, whereeach symbol is labelled with the number of its codeword (1-4) and theposition of the symbol within the codeword (A-O). Tag decoding thenconsists of decoding one codeword at each rotational orientation. Eachcodeword can either contain a single bit indicating whether it is thefirst codeword, or two bits indicating which codeword it is. The latterapproach has the advantage that if, say, the data content of only onecodeword is required, then at most two codewords need to be decoded toobtain the desired data. This may be the case if the region ID is notexpected to change within a stroke and is thus only decoded at the startof a stroke. Within a stroke only the codeword containing the tag ID isthen desired. Furthermore, since the rotation of the sensing devicechanges slowly and predictably within a stroke, only one codewordtypically needs to be decoded per frame.

It is possible to dispense with perspective targets altogether andinstead rely on the data representation being self-registering. In thiscase each bit value (or multi-bit value) is typically represented by anexplicit glyph, i.e. no bit value is represented by the absence of aglyph. This ensures that the data grid is well-populated, and thusallows the grid to be reliably identified and its perspective distortiondetected and subsequently corrected during data sampling. To allow tagboundaries to be detected, each tag data must contain a marker pattern,and these must be redundantly encoded to allow reliable detection. Theoverhead of such marker patterns is similar to the overhead of explicitperspective targets. Various such schemes are described in the presentapplicants' co-pending PCT application PCT/AU01/01274 filed 11 Oct.2001.

The arrangement 728 of FIG. 5 c shows that the square tag 726 can beused to fully tile or tesselate, i.e. without gaps or overlap, a planeof arbitrary size.

Although in preferred embodiments the tagging schemes described hereinencode a single data bit using the presence or absence of a singleundifferentiated macrodot, they can also use sets of differentiatedglyphs to represent single-bit or multi-bit values, such as the sets ofglyphs illustrated in the present applicants' co-pending PCT applicationPCT/AU01/01274 filed 11 Oct. 2001.

1.2.4.1 Macrodot Packing Schemes

FIG. 44 shows a triangular macrodot packing 700 with a four-bit symbolunit 702 outlined. The area of the symbol unit is given byA _(UNIT)=2√{square root over (3)}s ²≅3.5s ²

where s the spacing of adjacent macrodots. FIG. 45 shows a squaremacrodot packing 704 with a four-bit symbol unit 706 outlined. The areaof the symbol unit is given byA _(UNIT)=4s ²

FIG. 46 shows a hexagonal macrodot packing 708 with a four-bit symbolunit 710 outlined. The area of the symbol unit is given byA _(UNIT)=3√{square root over (3)}s ²≅5.2s ²

Of these packing schemes, the triangular packing scheme gives thegreatest macrodot density for a particular macrodot spacing s.

In preferred embodiments, s has a value between 100 μm and 200 μm.

1.2.4.2 Tag Designs

FIG. 46 shows a one-sixth segment 712 of a hexagonal tag, with thesegment containing a maximum of 11 four-bit symbols with the triangularmacrodot packing shown in FIG. 44. The target 17 is shared with adjacentsegments. Each tag segment can, by way of example, support a codeword ofan (11,k) Reed-Solomon code, i.e. a punctured (15,k) code, with theability to detect u=11−k symbol errors, or correct t=[(11−k/2] symbolerrors. For example, if k=7 then u=4 and t=2.

FIG. 47 shows a one-quarter segment 718 of a square tag, with thesegment containing a maximum of 15 four-bit symbols with the squaremacrodot packing shown in FIG. 45. Each tag segment can, by way ofexample, support a codeword of a (15,k) Reed-Solomon code, with theability to detect u=15−k symbol errors, or correct t=[(15−k)/2] symbolerrors. For example, if k=7 then u=8 and t=4.

1.2.4.3 Hexagonal Tag Design

FIG. 48 shows a logical layout of a hexagonal tag 722 using the tagsegment 712 of FIG. 46, with six interleaved 2⁴-ary (11,k) codewords.FIG. 49 shows the macrodot layout of the hexagonal tag 722 of FIG. 51.FIG. 53 shows an arrangement 724 of seven abutting tags 722 of thedesign of FIG. 48, with shared targets 17. The arrangement 724 showsthat the hexagonal tag 722 can be used to tesselate a plane of arbitrarysize.

1.2.4.4 Alternative Hexagonal Tag Design 1

FIG. 51 shows the logical layout of an alternative hexagonal tag. Thistag design is described in detail in the present applicants' co-pendingU.S. application U.S. Ser. No. 10/409,864 entitled“Orientation-Indicating Cyclic Position Codes”.

The tag contains a 2⁴-ary (6,1)cyclic position codeword(0,5,6,9,A₁₆,F₁₆) which can be decoded at any of the six possibleorientations of the tag to determine the actual orientation of the tag.Symbols which are part of the cyclic position codeword have a prefix of“R” and are numbered 0 to 5 in order of increasing significance, and areshown shaded in FIG. 52.

The tag locally contains three complete codewords which are used toencode information unique to the tag. Each codeword is of a punctured2⁴-ary (9,5) Reed-Solomon code.

The tag therefore encodes up to 60 bits of information unique to thetag. The tag also contains fragments of three codewords which aredistributed across three adjacent tags and which are used to encodeinformation common to a set of contiguous tags. Each codeword is of apunctured 2⁴-ary (9,5) Reed-Solomon code. Any three adjacent tagstherefore together encode up to 60 bits of information common to a setof contiguous tags.

The layout of the three complete codewords, distributed across threeadjacent tags, is shown in FIG. 53. In relation to these distributedcodewords there are three types of tag. These are referred to as P, Qand R in order of increasing significance.

The P, Q and R tags are repeated in a continuous tiling of tags whichguarantees the any set of three adjacent tags contains one tag of eachtype, and therefore contains a complete set of distributed codewords.The tag type, used to determine the registration of the distributedcodewords with respect to a particular set of adjacent tags, is encodedin one of the local codewords of each tag.

1.2.4.4 Alternative Hexagonal Tag Design 2

FIG. 54 shows the logical layout of another alternative hexagonal tag.This tag design is described in detail in the present applicants'co-pending U.S. application U.S. Ser. No. 10/786,631 entitled “SymmetricTags”.

FIG. 54 shows a logical layout of a hexagonal tag 750 using the tagsegment of FIG. 46, with one local 2⁴-ary (12,k) codeword interleavedwith eighteen 3-symbol fragments of eighteen distributed 2⁴-ary (9,k)codewords.

In the layout of FIG. 54, the twelve 4-bit symbols of the local codewordare labelled G1 through G12, and are shown with a dashed outline. Eachsymbol of the eighteen fragments of the eighteen distributed codewordsis labelled with an initial prefix of A through F, indicating which ofsix nominal codewords the symbol belongs to, a subsequent prefix of Sthrough U, indicating which 3-symbol part of the codeword the symbolbelongs to, and a suffix of 1 through 3, indicating which of the threepossible symbols the symbol is.

Tag 750 is structured so that the minimal field of view allows therecovery of the local codeword G of at least one tag, and the entire setof distributed codewords AP through FR via fragments of tags of type P,Q and R included in the field of view. Furthermore, the continuoustiling of tag 750 ensures that there is a codeword available with aknown layout for each possible rotational and translational combination(of which there are eighteen). Each distributed codeword includes datawhich identifies the rotation of the codeword in relation to the tiling,thus allowing the rotation of the tiling with respect to the field ofview to be determined from decoded data rather than from otherstructures, and the local codeword to be decoded at the correctorientation.

FIG. 55 shows the logical layout of the hexagonal tag 750 of FIG. 54,re-arranged to show the distributed 3-symbol fragments which contributeto the same codewords. For example, if the central tag shown in FIG. 54were a P-type tag, then the six distributed codewords shown in thefigure would be the AP, BP, CP, DP, EP and FP codewords. FIG. 55 alsoshows the local G codeword of the tag. Clearly, given the distributedand repeating nature of the distributed codewords, different fragmentsfrom the ones shown in the figure can be used to build the correspondingcodewords.

1.2.4 Tag Image Processing and Decoding

FIG. 7 shows a tag image processing and decoding process flow. A rawimage 202 of the tag pattern is acquired (at 200), for example via animage sensor such as a CCD image sensor, CMOS image sensor, or ascanning laser and photodiode image sensor. The raw image is thentypically enhanced (at 204) to produce an enhanced image 206 withimproved contrast and more uniform pixel intensities. Image enhancementmay include global or local range expansion, equalisation, and the like.The enhanced image 206 is then typically filtered (at 208) to produce afiltered image 210. Image filtering may consist of low-pass filtering,with the low-pass filter kernel size tuned to obscure macrodots but topreserve targets. The filtering step 208 may include additionalfiltering (such as edge detection) to enhance target features. Thefiltered image 210 is then processed to locate target features (at 212),yielding a set of target points. This may consist of a search for targetfeatures whose spatial inter-relationship is consistent with the knowngeometry of a tag. Candidate targets may be identified directly frommaxima in the filtered image 210, or may the subject of furthercharacterisation and matching, such as via their (binary or grayscale)shape moments (typically computed from pixels in the enhanced image 206based on local maxima in the filtered image 210), as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/575,154. The search typically starts fromthe center of the field of view. The target points 214 found by thesearch step 212 indirectly identify the location of the tag in thethree-dimensional space occupied by the image sensor and its associatedoptics. Since the target points 214 are derived from the (binary orgrayscale) centroids of the targets, they are typically defined tosub-pixel precision.

It may be useful to determine the actual 3D transform of the tag (at216), and, by extension, the 3D transform (or pose) 218 of the sensingdevice relative to the tag. This may be done analytically, as describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/575,154, or using a maximumlikelihood estimator (such as least squares adjustment) to fit parametervalues to the 3D transform given the observed perspective-distortedtarget points (as described in P. R. Wolf and B. A. Dewitt, Elements ofPhotogrammetry with Applications in GIS, 3rd Edition, McGraw Hill,February 2000, the contents of which are herein incorporated byreference thereto). The 3D transform includes the 3D translation of thetag, the 3D orientation (rotation) of the tag, and the focal length andviewport scale of the sensing device, thus giving eight parameters to befitted, or six parameters if the focal length and viewport scale areknown (e.g. by design or from a calibration step). Each target pointyields a pair of observation equations, relating an observed coordinateto a known coordinate. If eight parameters are being fitted, then fiveor more target points are needed to provide sufficient redundancy toallow maximum likelihood estimation. If six parameters are being fitted,then four or more target points are needed. If the tag design containsmore targets than are minimally required to allow maximum likelihoodestimation, then the tag can be recognised and decoded even if up tothat many of its targets are damaged beyond recognition.

To allow macrodot values to be sampled accurately, the perspectivetransform of the tag must be inferred. Four of the target points aretaken to be the perspective-distorted corners of a rectangle of knownsize in tag space, and the eight-degree-of-freedom perspective transform222 is inferred (at 220), based on solving the well-understood equationsrelating the four tag-space and image-space point pairs (see Heckbert,P., Fundamentals of Texture Mapping and Image Warping, Masters Thesis,Dept. of EECS, U. of California at Berkeley, Technical Report No.UCB/CSD 89/516, June 1989, the contents of which are herein incorporatedby reference thereto). The perspective transform may alternatively bederived from the 3D transform 218, if available.

The inferred tag-space to image-space perspective transform 222 is usedto project (at 224) each known data bit position in tag space into imagespace where the real-valued position is used to bi-linearly (orhigher-order) interpolate (at 224) the four (or more) relevant adjacentpixels in the enhanced input image 206. The resultant macrodot value iscompared with a suitable threshold to determine whether it represents azero bit or a one bit.

One the bits of one or more complete codeword have been sampled, thecodewords are decoded (at 228) to obtain the desired data 230 encoded inthe tag. Redundancy in the codeword may be used to detect errors in thesampled data, or to correct errors in the sampled data.

As discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/575,154, theobtained tag data 230 may directly or indirectly identify the surfaceregion containing the tag and the position of the tag within the region.An accurate position of the sensing device relative to the surfaceregion can therefore be derived from the tag data 230 and the 3Dtransform 218 of the sensing device relative to the tag.

1.2.6 Tag Map

Decoding a tag results in a region ID, a tag ID, and a tag-relative pentransform. Before the tag ID and the tag-relative pen location can betranslated into an absolute location within the tagged region, thelocation of the tag within the region must be known. This is given by atag map, a function which maps each tag ID in a tagged region to acorresponding location. The tag map class diagram is shown in FIG. 22,as part of the netpage printer class diagram.

A tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags,and this can vary according to surface type. When multiple taggedregions share the same tiling scheme and the same tag numbering scheme,they can also share the same tag map.

The tag map for a region must be retrievable via the region ID. Thus,given a region ID, a tag ID and a pen transform, the tag map can beretrieved, the tag ID can be translated into an absolute tag locationwithin the region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to thetag location to yield an absolute pen location within the region.

The tag ID may have a structure which assists translation through thetag map. It may, for example, encode Cartesian coordinates or polarcoordinates, depending on the surface type on which it appears. The tagID structure is dictated by and known to the tag map, and tag IDsassociated with different tag maps may therefore have differentstructures. For example, the tag ID may simply encode a pair of x and ycoordinates of the tag, in which case the tag map may simply consist ofrecord of the coordinate precision. If the coordinate precision isfixed, then the tag map can be implicit.

1.2.7 Tagging Schemes

Two distinct surface coding schemes are of interest, both of which usethe tag structure described earlier in this section. The preferredcoding scheme uses “location-indicating” tags as already discussed. Analternative coding scheme uses object-indicating tags.

A location-indicating tag contains a tag ID which, when translatedthrough the tag map associated with the tagged region, yields a uniquetag location within the region. The tag-relative location of the pen isadded to this tag location to yield the location of the pen within theregion. This in turn is used to determine the location of the penrelative to a user interface element in the page description associatedwith the region. Not only is the user interface element itselfidentified, but a location relative to the user interface element isidentified. Location-indicating tags therefore trivially support thecapture of an absolute pen path in the zone of a particular userinterface element.

An object-indicating tag contains a tag ID which directly identifies auser interface element in the page description associated with theregion. All the tags in the zone of the user interface element identifythe user interface element, making them all identical and thereforeindistinguishable. Object-indicating tags do not, therefore, support thecapture of an absolute pen path. They do, however, support the captureof a relative pen path. So long as the position sampling frequencyexceeds twice the encountered tag frequency, the displacement from onesampled pen position to the next within a stroke can be unambiguouslydetermined.

With either tagging scheme, the tags function in cooperation withassociated visual elements on the netpage as user interactive elementsin that a user can interact with the printed page using an appropriatesensing device in order for tag data to be read by the sensing deviceand for an appropriate response to be generated in the netpage system.

In many circumstances, where it is not required to determine theabsolute pen path, either object-indicating tags or position-indicatingtags can be used. For the purposes of simplicity, the remainder of thedescription will focus on the use of position-indicating tags, but itwill be appreciated that this should be taken to include the use ofobject-indicating tags within its scope. In this instance, a referenceto digital ink should be taken to include object-indicating “digitalink”, even though digital ink is nominally position-indicating.

1.3 Document and Page Descriptions

A preferred embodiment of a document and page description class diagramis shown in FIGS. 25 and 26.

In the netpage system a document is described at three levels. At themost abstract level the document 836 has a hierarchical structure whoseterminal elements 839 are associated with content objects 840 such astext objects, text style objects, image objects, etc. Once the documentis printed on a printer with a particular page size and according to aparticular user's scale factor preference, the document is paginated andotherwise formatted. Formatted terminal elements 835 will in some casesbe associated with content objects which are different from thoseassociated with their corresponding terminal elements, particularlywhere the content objects are style-related. Each printed instance of adocument and page is also described separately, to allow input capturedthrough a particular page instance 830 to be recorded separately frominput captured through other instances of the same page description.

The presence of the most abstract document description on the pageserver allows a user to request a copy of a document without beingforced to accept the source document's specific format. The user may berequesting a copy through a printer with a different page size, forexample. Conversely, the presence of the formatted document descriptionon the page server allows the page server to efficiently interpret useractions on a particular printed page.

A formatted document 834 consists of a set of formatted pagedescriptions 5, each of which consists of a set of formatted terminalelements 835. Each formatted element has a spatial extent or zone 58 onthe page. This defines the active area of input elements such ashyperlinks and input fields.

A document instance 831 corresponds to a formatted document 834. Itconsists of a set of page instances 830, each of which corresponds to apage description 5 of the formatted document. Each page instance 830describes a single unique printed netpage 1, and records the page ID 50of the netpage. A page instance is not part of a document instance if itrepresents a copy of a page requested in isolation.

A page instance consists of a set of terminal element instances 832. Anelement instance only exists if it records instance-specificinformation. Thus, a hyperlink instance exists for a hyperlink elementbecause it records a transaction ID 55 which is specific to the pageinstance, and a field instance exists for a field element because itrecords input specific to the page instance. An element instance doesnot exist, however, for static elements such as textflows.

A terminal element can be a static element 843, a hyperlink element 844,a field element 845 or a page server command element 846, as shown inFIG. 27. A static element 843 can be a style element 847 with anassociated style object 854, a textflow element 848 with an associatedstyled text object 855, an image element 849 with an associated imageelement 856, a graphic element 850 with an associated graphic object857, a video clip element 851 with an associated video clip object 858,an audio clip element 852 with an associated audio clip object 859, or ascript element 853 with an associated script object 860, as shown inFIG. 28.

A page instance has a background field 833 which is used to record anydigital ink captured on the page which does not apply to a specificinput element.

In the preferred form of the invention, a tag map 811 is associated witheach page instance to allow tags on the page to be translated intolocations on the page.

1.4 The Netpage Network

In a preferred embodiment, a netpage network consists of a distributedset of netpage page servers 10, netpage registration servers 11, netpageID servers 12, netpage application servers 13, netpage publicationservers 14, Web terminals 75, netpage printers 601, and relay devices 44connected via a network 19 such as the Internet, as shown in FIG. 3.

The netpage registration server 11 is a server which recordsrelationships between users, pens, printers, applications andpublications, and thereby authorizes various network activities. Itauthenticates users and acts as a signing proxy on behalf ofauthenticated users in application transactions. It also provideshandwriting recognition services. As described above, a netpage pageserver 10 maintains persistent information about page descriptions andpage instances. The netpage network includes any number of page servers,each handling a subset of page instances. Since a page server alsomaintains user input values for each page instance, clients such asnetpage printers send netpage input directly to the appropriate pageserver. The page server interprets any such input relative to thedescription of the corresponding page.

A netpage ID server 12 allocates document IDs 51 on demand, and providesload-balancing of page servers via its ID allocation scheme.

A netpage printer uses the Internet Distributed Name System (DNS), orsimilar, to resolve a netpage page ID 50 into the network address of thenetpage page server handling the corresponding page instance.

A netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts interactivenetpage applications. A netpage publication server 14 is an applicationserver which publishes netpage documents to netpage printers. They aredescribed in detail in Section 2.

netpage servers can be hosted on a variety of network server platformsfrom manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun. Multiplenetpage servers can run concurrently on a single host, and a singleserver can be distributed over a number of hosts. Some or all of thefunctionality provided by netpage servers, and in particular thefunctionality provided by the ID server and the page server, can also beprovided directly in a netpage appliance such as a netpage printer, in acomputer workstation, or on a local network.

1.5 The Netpage Printer

The netpage printer 601 is an appliance which is registered with thenetpage system and prints netpage documents on demand and viasubscription. Each printer has a unique printer ID 62, and is connectedto the netpage network via a network such as the Internet, ideally via abroadband connection.

Apart from identity and security settings in non-volatile memory, thenetpage printer contains no persistent storage. As far as a user isconcerned, “the network is the computer”. netpages functioninteractively across space and time with the help of the distributednetpage page servers 10, independently of particular netpage printers.

The netpage printer receives subscribed netpage documents from netpagepublication servers 14. Each document is distributed in two parts: thepage layouts, and the actual text and image objects which populate thepages. Because of personalization, page layouts are typically specificto a particular subscriber and so are pointcast to the subscriber'sprinter via the appropriate page server. Text and image objects, on theother hand, are typically shared with other subscribers, and so aremulticast to all subscribers' printers and the appropriate page servers.

The netpage publication server optimizes the segmentation of documentcontent into pointcasts and multicasts. After receiving the pointcast ofa document's page layouts, the printer knows which multicasts, if any,to listen to.

Once the printer has received the complete page layouts and objects thatdefine the document to be printed, it can print the document.

The printer rasterizes and prints odd and even pages simultaneously onboth sides of the sheet. It contains duplexed print engine controllers760 and print engines utilizing Memjet™ printheads 350 for this purpose.

The printing process consists of two decoupled stages: rasterization ofpage descriptions, and expansion and printing of page images. The rasterimage processor (RIP) consists of one or more standard DSPs 757 runningin parallel. The duplexed print engine controllers consist of customprocessors which expand, dither and print page images in real time,synchronized with the operation of the printheads in the print engines.

Printers not enabled for IR printing have the option to print tags usingIR-absorptive black ink, although this restricts tags to otherwise emptyareas of the page. Although such pages have more limited functionalitythan IR-printed pages, they are still classed as netpages.

A normal netpage printer prints netpages on sheets of paper. Morespecialised netpage printers may print onto more specialised surfaces,such as globes. Each printer supports at least one surface type, andsupports at least one tag tiling scheme, and hence tag map, for eachsurface type. The tag map 811 which describes the tag tiling schemeactually used to print a document becomes associated with that documentso that the document's tags can be correctly interpreted.

FIG. 2 shows the netpage printer class diagram, reflectingprinter-related information maintained by a registration server 11 onthe netpage network.

A preferred embodiment of the netpage printer is described in greaterdetail in Section 6 below, with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16.

1.5.1 Memjet™ Printheads

The netpage system can operate using printers made with a wide range ofdigital printing technologies, including thermal inkjet, piezoelectricinkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others. However, for wideconsumer acceptance, it is desirable that a netpage printer have thefollowing characteristics:

-   -   photographic quality color printing    -   high quality text printing    -   high reliability    -   low printer cost    -   low ink cost    -   low paper cost    -   simple operation    -   nearly silent printing    -   high printing speed    -   simultaneous double sided printing    -   compact form factor    -   low power consumption

No commercially available printing technology has all of thesecharacteristics.

To enable to production of printers with these characteristics, thepresent applicant has invented a new print technology, referred to asMemjet™ technology. Memjet™ is a drop-on-demand inkjet technology thatincorporates pagewidth printheads fabricated usingmicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. FIG. 17 shows a singleprinting element 300 of a Memjet™ printhead. The netpage wallprinterincorporates 168960 printing elements 300 to form a 1600 dpi pagewidthduplex printer. This printer simultaneously prints cyan, magenta,yellow, black, and infrared inks as well as paper conditioner and inkfixative.

The printing element 300 is approximately 110 microns long by 32 micronswide. Arrays of these printing elements are formed on a siliconsubstrate 301 that incorporates CMOS logic, data transfer, timing, anddrive circuits (not shown).

Major elements of the printing element 300 are the nozzle 302, thenozzle rim 303, the nozzle chamber 304, the fluidic seal 305, the inkchannel rim 306, the lever arm 307, the active actuator beam pair 308,the passive actuator beam pair 309, the active actuator anchor 310, thepassive actuator anchor 311, and the ink inlet 312.

The active actuator beam pair 308 is mechanically joined to the passiveactuator beam pair 309 at the join 319. Both beams pairs are anchored attheir respective anchor points 310 and 311. The combination of elements308, 309, 310, 311, and 319 form a cantilevered electrothermal bendactuator 320.

While printing, the printhead CMOS circuitry distributes data from theprint engine controller to the correct printing element, latches thedata, and buffers the data to drive the electrodes 318 of the activeactuator beam pair 308. This causes an electrical current to passthrough the beam pair 308 for about one microsecond, resulting in Jouleheating. The temperature increase resulting from Joule heating causesthe beam pair 308 to expand. As the passive actuator beam pair 309 isnot heated, it does not expand, resulting in a stress difference betweenthe two beam pairs. This stress difference is partially resolved by thecantilevered end of the electrothermal bend actuator 320 bending towardsthe substrate 301. The lever arm 307 transmits this movement to thenozzle chamber 304. The nozzle chamber 304 moves about two microns tothe position shown in FIG. 19( b). This increases the ink pressure,forcing ink 321 out of the nozzle 302, and causing the ink meniscus 316to bulge. The nozzle rim 303 prevents the ink meniscus 316 fromspreading across the surface of the nozzle chamber 304.

As the temperature of the beam pairs 308 and 309 equalizes, the actuator320 returns to its original position. This aids in the break-off of theink droplet 317 from the ink 321 in the nozzle chamber. The nozzlechamber is refilled by the action of the surface tension at the meniscus316.

In a netpage printer, the length of the printhead is the full width ofthe paper (typically 210 mm). When printing, the paper is moved past thefixed printhead. The printhead has 6 rows of interdigitated printingelements 300, printing the six colors or types of ink supplied by theink inlets.

To protect the fragile surface of the printhead during operation, anozzle guard wafer is attached to the printhead substrate. For eachnozzle there is a corresponding nozzle guard hole through which the inkdroplets are fired. To prevent the nozzle guard holes from becomingblocked by paper fibers or other debris, filtered air is pumped throughthe air inlets and out of the nozzle guard holes during printing. Toprevent ink from drying, the nozzle guard is sealed while the printer isidle.

1.6 The Netpage Pen

The active sensing device of the netpage system is typically a pen 101,which, using its embedded controller 134, is able to capture and decodeIR position tags from a page via an image sensor. The image sensor is asolid-state device provided with an appropriate filter to permit sensingat only near-infrared wavelengths. As described in more detail below,the system is able to sense when the nib is in contact with the surface,and the pen is able to sense tags at a sufficient rate to capture humanhandwriting (i.e. at 200 dpi or greater and 100 Hz or faster).Information captured by the pen is encrypted and wirelessly transmittedto the printer (or base station), the printer or base stationinterpreting the data with respect to the (known) page structure.

The preferred embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normalmarking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus. The marking aspect,however, is not necessary for using the netpage system as a browsingsystem, such as when it is used as an Internet interface. Each netpagepen is registered with the netpage system and has a unique pen ID 61.FIG. 23 shows the netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-relatedinformation maintained by a registration server 11 on the netpagenetwork.

When either nib is in contact with a netpage, the pen determines itsposition and orientation relative to the page. The nib is attached to aforce sensor, and the force on the nib is interpreted relative to athreshold to indicate whether the pen is “up” or “down”. This allows ainteractive element on the page to be ‘clicked’ by pressing with the pennib, in order to request, say, information from a network. Furthermore,the force is captured as a continuous value to allow, say, the fulldynamics of a signature to be verified.

The pen determines the position and orientation of its nib on thenetpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of the page inthe vicinity of the nib. It decodes the nearest tag and computes theposition of the nib relative to the tag from the observed perspectivedistortion on the imaged tag and the known geometry of the pen optics.Although the position resolution of the tag may be low, because the tagdensity on the page is inversely proportional to the tag size, theadjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimumresolution required for accurate handwriting recognition.

Pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a series of strokes. Astroke consists of a sequence of time-stamped pen positions on the page,initiated by a pen-down event and completed by the subsequent pen-upevent. A stroke is also tagged with the page ID 50 of the netpagewhenever the page ID changes, which, under normal circumstances, is atthe commencement of the stroke.

Each netpage pen has a current selection 826 associated with it,allowing the user to perform copy and paste operations etc. Theselection is timestamped to allow the system to discard it after adefined time period. The current selection describes a region of a pageinstance. It consists of the most recent digital ink stroke capturedthrough the pen relative to the background area of the page. It isinterpreted in an application-specific manner once it is submitted to anapplication via a selection hyperlink activation.

Each pen has a current nib 824. This is the nib last notified by the pento the system. In the case of the default netpage pen described above,either the marking black ink nib or the non-marking stylus nib iscurrent. Each pen also has a current nib style 825. This is the nibstyle last associated with the pen by an application, e.g. in responseto the user selecting a color from a palette. The default nib style isthe nib style associated with the current nib. Strokes captured througha pen are tagged with the current nib style. When the strokes aresubsequently reproduced, they are reproduced in the nib style with whichthey are tagged.

Whenever the pen is within range of a printer with which it cancommunicate, the pen slowly flashes its “online” LED. When the pen failsto decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its“error” LED. When the pen succeeds in decoding a stroke relative to thepage, it momentarily activates its “ok” LED.

A sequence of captured strokes is referred to as digital ink. Digitalink forms the basis for the digital exchange of drawings andhandwriting, for online recognition of handwriting, and for onlineverification of signatures.

The pen is wireless and transmits digital ink to the netpage printer viaa short-range radio link. The transmitted digital ink is encrypted forprivacy and security and packetized for efficient transmission, but isalways flushed on a pen-up event to ensure timely handling in theprinter.

When the pen is out-of-range of a printer it buffers digital ink ininternal memory, which has a capacity of over ten minutes of continuoushandwriting. When the pen is once again within range of a printer, ittransfers any buffered digital ink.

A pen can be registered with any number of printers, but because allstate data resides in netpages both on paper and on the network, it islargely immaterial which printer a pen is communicating with at anyparticular time.

A preferred embodiment of the pen is described in greater detail inSection 6 below, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10.

1.7 Netpage Interaction

The netpage printer 601 receives data relating to a stroke from the pen101 when the pen is used to interact with a netpage 1. The coded data 3of the tags 4 is read by the pen when it is used to execute a movement,such as a stroke. The data allows the identity of the particular pageand associated interactive element to be determined and an indication ofthe relative positioning of the pen relative to the page to be obtained.The indicating data is transmitted to the printer, where it resolves,via the DNS, the page ID 50 of the stroke into the network address ofthe netpage page server 10 which maintains the corresponding pageinstance 830. It then transmits the stroke to the page server. If thepage was recently identified in an earlier stroke, then the printer mayalready have the address of the relevant page server in its cache. Eachnetpage consists of a compact page layout maintained persistently by anetpage page server (see below). The page layout refers to objects suchas images, fonts and pieces of text, typically stored elsewhere on thenetpage network.

When the page server receives the stroke from the pen, it retrieves thepage description to which the stroke applies, and determines whichelement of the page description the stroke intersects. It is then ableto interpret the stroke in the context of the type of the relevantelement.

A “click” is a stroke where the distance and time between the pen downposition and the subsequent pen up position are both less than somesmall maximum. An object which is activated by a click typicallyrequires a click to be activated, and accordingly, a longer stroke isignored. The failure of a pen action, such as a “sloppy” click, toregister is indicated by the lack of response from the pen's “ok” LED.

There are two kinds of input elements in a netpage page description:hyperlinks and form fields. Input through a form field can also triggerthe activation of an associated hyperlink.

1.7.1 Hyperlinks

A hyperlink is a means of sending a message to a remote application, andtypically elicits a printed response in the netpage system.

A hyperlink element 844 identifies the application 71 which handlesactivation of the hyperlink, a link ID 54 which identifies the hyperlinkto the application, an “alias required” flag which asks the system toinclude the user's application alias ID 65 in the hyperlink activation,and a description which is used when the hyperlink is recorded as afavorite or appears in the user's history. The hyperlink element classdiagram is shown in FIG. 29.

When a hyperlink is activated, the page server sends a request to anapplication somewhere on the network. The application is identified byan application ID 64, and the application ID is resolved in the normalway via the DNS. There are three types of hyperlinks: general hyperlinks863, form hyperlinks 865, and selection hyperlinks 864, as shown in FIG.30. A general hyperlink can implement a request for a linked document,or may simply signal a preference to a server. A form hyperlink submitsthe corresponding form to the application. A selection hyperlink submitsthe current selection to the application. If the current selectioncontains a single-word piece of text, for example, the application mayreturn a single-page document giving the word's meaning within thecontext in which it appears, or a translation into a different language.Each hyperlink type is characterized by what information is submitted tothe application.

The corresponding hyperlink instance 862 records a transaction ID 55which can be specific to the page instance on which the hyperlinkinstance appears. The transaction ID can identify user-specific data tothe application, for example a “shopping cart” of pending purchasesmaintained by a purchasing application on behalf of the user.

The system includes the pen's current selection 826 in a selectionhyperlink activation. The system includes the content of the associatedform instance 868 in a form hyperlink activation, although if thehyperlink has its “submit delta” attribute set, only input since thelast form submission is included. The system includes an effectivereturn path in all hyperlink activations.

A hyperlinked group 866 is a group element 838 which has an associatedhyperlink, as shown in FIG. 31. When input occurs through any fieldelement in the group, the hyperlink 844 associated with the group isactivated. A hyperlinked group can be used to associate hyperlinkbehavior with a field such as a checkbox. It can also be used, inconjunction with the “submit delta” attribute of a form hyperlink, toprovide continuous input to an application. It can therefore be used tosupport a “blackboard” interaction model, i.e. where input is capturedand therefore shared as soon as it occurs.

1.7.2 Forms

A form defines a collection of related input fields used to capture arelated set of inputs through a printed netpage. A form allows a user tosubmit one or more parameters to an application software program runningon a server.

A form 867 is a group element 838 in the document hierarchy. Itultimately contains a set of terminal field elements 839. A forminstance 868 represents a printed instance of a form. It consists of aset of field instances 870 which correspond to the field elements 845 ofthe form. Each field instance has an associated value 871, whose typedepends on the type of the corresponding field element. Each field valuerecords input through a particular printed form instance, i.e. throughone or more printed netpages. The form class diagram is shown in FIG.32.

Each form instance has a status 872 which indicates whether the form isactive, frozen, submitted, void or expired. A form is active when firstprinted. A form becomes frozen once it is signed or once its freeze timeis reached. A form becomes submitted once one of its submissionhyperlinks has been activated, unless the hyperlink has its “submitdelta” attribute set. A form becomes void when the user invokes a voidform, reset form or duplicate form page command. A form expires when itsspecified expiry time is reached, i.e. when the time the form has beenactive exceeds the form's specified lifetime. While the form is active,form input is allowed. Input through a form which is not active isinstead captured in the background field 833 of the relevant pageinstance. When the form is active or frozen, form submission is allowed.Any attempt to submit a form when the form is not active or frozen isrejected, and instead elicits an form status report.

Each form instance is associated (at 59) with any form instances derivedfrom it, thus providing a version history. This allows all but thelatest version of a form in a particular time period to be excluded froma search.

All input is captured as digital ink. Digital ink 873 consists of a setof timestamped stroke groups 874, each of which consists of a set ofstyled strokes 875. Each stroke consists of a set of timestamped penpositions 876, each of which also includes pen orientation and nibforce. The digital ink class diagram is shown in FIG. 33.

A field element 845 can be a checkbox field 877, a text field 878, adrawing field 879, or a signature field 880. The field element classdiagram is shown in FIG. 34. Any digital ink captured in a field's zone58 is assigned to the field.

A checkbox field has an associated boolean value 881, as shown in FIG.35. Any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc.) capturedin a checkbox field's zone causes a true value to be assigned to thefield's value.

A text field has an associated text value 882, as shown in FIG. 36. Anydigital ink captured in a text field's zone is automatically convertedto text via online handwriting recognition, and the text is assigned tothe field's value. Online handwriting recognition is well-understood(see, for example, Tappert, C., C. Y. Suen and T. Wakahara, “The Stateof the Art in On-Line Handwriting Recognition”, IEEE Transactions onPattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 12, No. 8, August 1990,the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference).

A signature field has an associated digital signature value 883, asshown in FIG. 37. Any digital ink captured in a signature field's zoneis automatically verified with respect to the identity of the owner ofthe pen, and a digital signature of the content of the form of which thefield is part is generated and assigned to the field's value. Thedigital signature is generated using the pen user's private signaturekey specific to the application which owns the form. Online signatureverification is well-understood (see, for example, Plamondon, R. and G.Lorette, “Automatic Signature Verification and Writer Identification—TheState of the Art”, Pattern Recognition, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1989, thecontents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference).

A field element is hidden if its “hidden” attribute is set. A hiddenfield element does not have an input zone on a page and does not acceptinput. It can have an associated field value which is included in theform data when the form containing the field is submitted.

“Editing” commands, such as strike-throughs indicating deletion, canalso be recognized in form fields.

Because the handwriting recognition algorithm works “online” (i.e. withaccess to the dynamics of the pen movement), rather than “offline” (i.e.with access only to a bitmap of pen markings), it can recognize run-ondiscretely-written characters with relatively high accuracy, without awriter-dependent training phase. A writer-dependent model of handwritingis automatically generated over time, however, and can be generatedup-front if necessary,

Digital ink, as already stated, consists of a sequence of strokes. Anystroke which starts in a particular element's zone is appended to thatelement's digital ink stream, ready for interpretation. Any stroke notappended to an object's digital ink stream is appended to the backgroundfield's digital ink stream.

Digital ink captured in the background field is interpreted as aselection gesture. Circumscription of one or more objects is generallyinterpreted as a selection of the circumscribed objects, although theactual interpretation is application-specific.

Table 3 summarises these various pen interactions with a netpage.

The system maintains a current selection for each pen. The selectionconsists simply of the most recent stroke captured in the backgroundfield. The selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensurepredictable behavior.

The raw digital ink captured in every field is retained on the netpagepage server and is optionally transmitted with the form data when theform is submitted to the application. This allows the application tointerrogate the raw digital ink should it suspect the originalconversion, such as the conversion of handwritten text. This can, forexample, involve human intervention at the application level for formswhich fail certain application-specific consistency checks. As anextension to this, the entire background area of a form can bedesignated as a drawing field. The application can then decide, on thebasis of the presence of digital ink outside the explicit fields of theform, to route the form to a human operator, on the assumption that theuser may have indicated amendments to the filled-in fields outside ofthose fields.

TABLE 3 Summary of pen interactions with a netpage Object Type Pen inputAction Hyperlink General Click Submit action to application Form ClickSubmit form to application Selection Click Submit selection toapplication Form field Checkbox Any mark Assign true to field TextHandwriting Convert digital ink to text; assign text to field DrawingDigital ink Assign digital ink to field Signature Signature Verifydigital ink signature; generate digital signature of form; assigndigital signature to field None — Circumscription Assign digital ink tocurrent selection

FIG. 38 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen input relativeto a netpage. The process consists of receiving (at 884) a stroke fromthe pen; identifying (at 885) the page instance 830 to which the page ID50 in the stroke refers; retrieving (at 886) the page description 5;identifying (at 887) a formatted element 839 whose zone 58 the strokeintersects; determining (at 888) whether the formatted elementcorresponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892) thereceived stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871, interpreting(at 893) the accumulated digital ink of the field, and determining (at894) whether the field is part of a hyperlinked group 866 and if soactivating (at 895) the associated hyperlink; alternatively determining(at 889) whether the formatted element corresponds to a hyperlinkelement and if so activating (at 895) the corresponding hyperlink;alternatively, in the absence of an input field or hyperlink, appending(at 890) the received stroke to the digital ink of the background field833; and copying (at 891) the received stroke to the current selection826 of the current pen, as maintained by the registration server.

FIG. 38 a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 in the process shown inFIG. 38, where the accumulated digital ink of a field is interpretedaccording to the type of the field. The process consists of determining(at 896) whether the field is a checkbox and (at 897) whether thedigital ink represents a checkmark, and if so assigning (at 898) a truevalue to the field value; alternatively determining (at 899) whether thefield is a text field and if so converting (at 900) the digital ink tocomputer text, with the help of the appropriate registration server, andassigning (at 901) the converted computer text to the field value;alternatively determining (at 902) whether the field is a signaturefield and if so verifying (at 903) the digital ink as the signature ofthe pen's owner, with the help of the appropriate registration server,creating (at 904) a digital signature of the contents of thecorresponding form, also with the help of the registration server andusing the pen owner's private signature key relating to thecorresponding application, and assigning (at 905) the digital signatureto the field value.

1.7.3 Page Server Commands

A page server command is a command which is handled locally by the pageserver. It operates directly on form, page and document instances.

A page server command 907 can be a void form command 908, a duplicateform command 909, a reset form command 910, a get form status command911, a duplicate page command 912, a reset page command 913, a get pagestatus command 914, a duplicate document command 915, a reset documentcommand 916, or a get document status command 917, as shown in FIG. 39.

A void form command voids the corresponding form instance. A duplicateform command voids the corresponding form instance and then produces anactive printed copy of the current form instance with field valuespreserved. The copy contains the same hyperlink transaction IDs as theoriginal, and so is indistinguishable from the original to anapplication. A reset form command voids the corresponding form instanceand then produces an active printed copy of the form instance with fieldvalues discarded. A get form status command produces a printed report onthe status of the corresponding form instance, including who publishedit, when it was printed, for whom it was printed, and the form status ofthe form instance.

Since a form hyperlink instance contains a transaction ID, theapplication has to be involved in producing a new form instance. Abutton requesting a new form instance is therefore typically implementedas a hyperlink.

A duplicate page command produces a printed copy of the correspondingpage instance with the background field value preserved. If the pagecontains a form or is part of a form, then the duplicate page command isinterpreted as a duplicate form command. A reset page command produces aprinted copy of the corresponding page instance with the backgroundfield value discarded. If the page contains a form or is part of a form,then the reset page command is interpreted as a reset form command. Aget page status command produces a printed report on the status of thecorresponding page instance, including who published it, when it wasprinted, for whom it was printed, and the status of any forms itcontains or is part of.

The netpage logo which appears on every netpage is usually associatedwith a duplicate page element.

When a page instance is duplicated with field values preserved, fieldvalues are printed in their native form, i.e. a checkmark appears as astandard checkmark graphic, and text appears as typeset text. Onlydrawings and signatures appear in their original form, with a signatureaccompanied by a standard graphic indicating successful signatureverification.

A duplicate document command produces a printed copy of thecorresponding document instance with background field values preserved.If the document contains any forms, then the duplicate document commandduplicates the forms in the same way a duplicate form command does. Areset document command produces a printed copy of the correspondingdocument instance with background field values discarded. If thedocument contains any forms, then the reset document command resets theforms in the same way a reset form command does. A get document statuscommand produces a printed report on the status of the correspondingdocument instance, including who published it, when it was printed, forwhom it was printed, and the status of any forms it contains.

If the page server command's “on selected” attribute is set, then thecommand operates on the page identified by the pen's current selectionrather than on the page containing the command. This allows a menu ofpage server commands to be printed. If the target page doesn't contain apage server command element for the designated page server command, thenthe command is ignored.

An application can provide application-specific handling by embeddingthe relevant page server command element in a hyperlinked group. Thepage server activates the hyperlink associated with the hyperlinkedgroup rather than executing the page server command.

A page server command element is hidden if its “hidden” attribute isset. A hidden command element does not have an input zone on a page andso cannot be activated directly by a user. It can, however, be activatedvia a page server command embedded in a different page, if that pageserver command has its “on selected” attribute set.

1.8 Standard Features of Netpages

In the preferred form, each netpage is printed with the netpage logo atthe bottom to indicate that it is a netpage and therefore hasinteractive properties. The logo also acts as a copy button. In mostcases pressing the logo produces a copy of the page. In the case of aform, the button produces a copy of the entire form. And in the case ofa secure document, such as a ticket or coupon, the button elicits anexplanatory note or advertising page.

The default single-page copy function is handled directly by therelevant netpage page server. Special copy functions are handled bylinking the logo button to an application.

1.9 User Help System

In a preferred embodiment, the netpage printer has a single buttonlabelled “Help”. When pressed it elicits a single help page 46 ofinformation, including:

-   -   status of printer connection    -   status of printer consumables    -   top-level help menu    -   document function menu    -   top-level netpage network directory

The help menu provides a hierarchical manual on bow to use the netpagesystem.

The document function menu includes the following functions:

-   -   print a copy of a document    -   print a clean copy of a form    -   print the status of a document

A document function is initiated by selecting the document and thenpressing the button. The status of a document indicates who published itand when, to whom it was delivered, and to whom and when it wassubsequently submitted as a form.

The help page is obviously unavailable if the printer is unable toprint. In this case the “error” light is lit and the user can requestremote diagnosis over the network.

2 Personalized Publication Model

In the following description, news is used as a canonical publicationexample to illustrate personalization mechanisms in the netpage system.Although news is often used in the limited sense of newspaper andnewsmagazine news, the intended scope in the present context is wider.

In the netpage system, the editorial content and the advertising contentof a news publication are personalized using different mechanisms. Theeditorial content is personalized according to the reader's explicitlystated and implicitly captured interest profile. The advertising contentis personalized according to the reader's locality and demographic.

2.1 Editorial Personalization

A subscriber can draw on two kinds of news sources: those that delivernews publications, and those that deliver news streams. While newspublications are aggregated and edited by the publisher, news streamsare aggregated either by a news publisher or by a specialized newsaggregator. News publications typically correspond to traditionalnewspapers and newsmagazines, while news streams can be many and varied:a “raw” news feed from a news service, a cartoon strip, a freelancewriter's column, a friend's bulletin board, or the reader's own e-mail.

The netpage publication server supports the publication of edited newspublications as well as the aggregation of multiple news streams. Byhandling the aggregation and hence the formatting of news streamsselected directly by the reader, the server is able to place advertisingon pages over which it otherwise has no editorial control.

The subscriber builds a daily newspaper by selecting one or morecontributing news publications, and creating a personalized version ofeach. The resulting daily editions are printed and bound together into asingle newspaper. The various members of a household typically expresstheir different interests and tastes by selecting different dailypublications and then customizing them.

For each publication, the reader optionally selects specific sections.Some sections appear daily, while others appear weekly. The dailysections available from The New York Times online, for example, include“Page One Plus”, “National”, “International”, “Opinion”, “Business”,“Arts/Living”, “Technology”, and “Sports”. The set of available sectionsis specific to a publication, as is the default subset.

The reader can extend the daily newspaper by creating custom sections,each one drawing on any number of news streams. Custom sections might becreated for e-mail and friends' announcements (“Personal”), or formonitoring news feeds for specific topics (“Alerts” or “Clippings”).

For each section, the reader optionally specifies its size, eitherqualitatively (e.g. short, medium, or long), or numerically (i.e. as alimit on its number of pages), and the desired proportion ofadvertising, either qualitatively (e.g. high, normal, low, none), ornumerically (i.e. as a percentage).

The reader also optionally expresses a preference for a large number ofshorter articles or a small number of longer articles. Each article isideally written (or edited) in both short and long forms to support thispreference.

An article may also be written (or edited) in different versions tomatch the expected sophistication of the reader, for example to providechildren's and adults' versions. The appropriate version is selectedaccording to the reader's age. The reader can specify a “reading age”which takes precedence over their biological age.

The articles which make up each section are selected and prioritized bythe editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime. By default they aredelivered to all relevant subscribers, in priority order, subject tospace constraints in the subscribers' editions.

In sections where it is appropriate, the reader may optionally enablecollaborative filtering. This is then applied to articles which have asufficiently long lifetime. Each article which qualifies forcollaborative filtering is printed with rating buttons at the end of thearticle. The buttons can provide an easy choice (e.g. “liked” and“disliked”), making it more likely that readers will bother to rate thearticle.

Articles with high priorities and short lifetimes are thereforeeffectively considered essential reading by the editors and aredelivered to most relevant subscribers.

The reader optionally specifies a serendipity factor, eitherqualitatively (e.g. do or don't surprise me), or numerically. A highserendipity factor lowers the threshold used for matching duringcollaborative filtering. A high factor makes it more likely that thecorresponding section will be filled to the reader's specified capacity.A different serendipity factor can be specified for different days ofthe week.

The reader also optionally specifies topics of particular interestwithin a section, and this modifies the priorities assigned by theeditors.

The speed of the reader's Internet connection affects the quality atwhich images can be delivered. The reader optionally specifies apreference for fewer images or smaller images or both. If the number orsize of images is not reduced, then images may be delivered at lowerquality (i.e. at lower resolution or with greater compression).

At a global level, the reader specifies how quantities, dates, times andmonetary values are localized. This involves specifying whether unitsare imperial or metric, a local timezone and time format, and a localcurrency, and whether the localization consist of in situ translation orannotation. These preferences are derived from the reader's locality bydefault.

To reduce reading difficulties caused by poor eyesight, the readeroptionally specifies a global preference for a larger presentation. Bothtext and images are scaled accordingly, and less information isaccommodated on each page.

The language in which a news publication is published, and itscorresponding text encoding, is a property of the publication and not apreference expressed by the user. However, the netpage system can beconfigured to provide automatic translation services in various guises.

2.2 Advertising Localization and Targeting

The personalization of the editorial content directly affects theadvertising content, because advertising is typically placed to exploitthe editorial context. Travel ads, for example, are more likely toappear in a travel section than elsewhere. The value of the editorialcontent to an advertiser (and therefore to the publisher) lies in itsability to attract large numbers of readers with the right demographics.

Effective advertising is placed on the basis of locality anddemographics. Locality determines proximity to particular services,retailers etc., and particular interests and concerns associated withthe local community and environment. Demographics determine generalinterests and preoccupations as well as likely spending patterns.

A news publisher's most profitable product is advertising “space”, amulti-dimensional entity determined by the publication's geographiccoverage, the size of its readership, its readership demographics, andthe page area available for advertising.

In the netpage system, the netpage publication server computes theapproximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's saleableadvertising space on a per-section basis, taking into account thepublication's geographic coverage, the section's readership, the size ofeach reader's section edition, each reader's advertising proportion, andeach reader's demographic.

In comparison with other media, the netpage system allows theadvertising space to be defined in greater detail, and allows smallerpieces of it to be sold separately. It therefore allows it to be sold atcloser to its true value.

For example, the same advertising “slot” can be sold in varyingproportions to several advertisers, with individual readers' pagesrandomly receiving the advertisement of one advertiser or another,overall preserving the proportion of space sold to each advertiser.

The netpage system allows advertising to be linked directly to detailedproduct information and online purchasing. It therefore raises theintrinsic value of the advertising space.

Because personalization and localization are handled automatically bynetpage publication servers, an advertising aggregator can providearbitrarily broad coverage of both geography and demographics. Thesubsequent disaggregation is efficient because it is automatic. Thismakes it more cost-effective for publishers to deal with advertisingaggregators than to directly capture advertising. Even though theadvertising aggregator is taking a proportion of advertising revenue,publishers may find the change profit-neutral because of the greaterefficiency of aggregation. The advertising aggregator acts as anintermediary between advertisers and publishers, and may place the sameadvertisement in multiple publications.

It is worth noting that ad placement in a netpage publication can bemore complex than ad placement in the publication's traditionalcounterpart, because the publication's advertising space is morecomplex. While ignoring the full complexities of negotiations betweenadvertisers, advertising aggregators and publishers, the preferred formof the netpage system provides some automated support for thesenegotiations, including support for automated auctions of advertisingspace. Automation is particularly desirable for the placement ofadvertisements which generate small amounts of income, such as small orhighly localized advertisements.

Once placement has been negotiated, the aggregator captures and editsthe advertisement and records it on a netpage ad server.Correspondingly, the publisher records the ad placement on the relevantnetpage publication server. When the netpage publication server lays outeach user's personalized publication, it picks the relevantadvertisements from the netpage ad server.

2.3 User Profiles

2.3.1 Information Filtering

The personalization of news and other publications relies on anassortment of user-specific profile information, including:

-   -   publication customizations    -   collaborative filtering vectors    -   contact details    -   presentation preferences

The customization of a publication is typically publication-specific,and so the customization information is maintained by the relevantnetpage publication server.

A collaborative filtering vector consists of the user's ratings of anumber of news items. It is used to correlate different users' interestsfor the purposes of making recommendations. Although there are benefitsto maintaining a single collaborative filtering vector independently ofany particular publication, there are two reasons why it is morepractical to maintain a separate vector for each publication: there islikely to be more overlap between the vectors of subscribers to the samepublication than between those of subscribers to different publications;and a publication is likely to want to present its users' collaborativefiltering vectors as part of the value of its brand, not to be foundelsewhere. Collaborative filtering vectors are therefore also maintainedby the relevant netpage publication server.

Contact details, including name, street address, ZIP Code, state,country, telephone numbers, are global by nature, and are maintained bya netpage registration server.

Presentation preferences, including those for quantities, dates andtimes, are likewise global and maintained in the same way.

The localization of advertising relies on the locality indicated in theuser's contact details, while the targeting of advertising relies onpersonal information such as date of birth, gender, marital status,income, profession, education, or qualitative derivatives such as agerange and income range.

For those users who choose to reveal personal information foradvertising purposes, the information is maintained by the relevantnetpage registration server. In the absence of such information,advertising can be targeted on the basis of the demographic associatedwith the user's ZIP or ZIP+4 Code.

Each user, pen, printer, application provider and application isassigned its own unique identifier, and the netpage registration servermaintains the relationships between them, as shown in FIGS. 21, 22, 23and 24. For registration purposes, a publisher is a special kind ofapplication provider, and a publication is a special kind ofapplication.

Each user 800 may be authorized to use any number of printers 802, andeach printer may allow any number of users to use it. Each user has asingle default printer (at 66), to which periodical publications aredelivered by default, whilst pages printed on demand are delivered tothe printer through which the user is interacting. The server keepstrack of which publishers a user has authorized to print to the user'sdefault printer. A publisher does not record the ID of any particularprinter, but instead resolves the ID when it is required. The user mayalso be designated as having administrative privileges 69 on theprinter, allowing the user to authorize other users to use the printer.This only has meaning if the printer requires administrative privileges84 for such operations.

When a user subscribes 808 to a publication 807, the publisher 806 (i.e.application provider 803) is authorized to print to a specified printeror the user's default printer. This authorization can be revoked at anytime by the user. Each user may have several pens 801, but a pen isspecific to a single user. If a user is authorized to use a particularprinter, then that printer recognizes any of the user's pens.

The pen ID is used to locate the corresponding user profile maintainedby a particular netpage registration server, via the DNS in the usualway.

A Web terminal 809 can be authorized to print on a particular netpageprinter, allowing Web pages and netpage documents encountered during Webbrowsing to be conveniently printed on the nearest netpage printer.

The netpage system can collect, on behalf of a printer provider, feesand commissions on income earned through publications printed on theprovider's printers. Such income can include advertising fees,click-through fees, e-commerce commissions, and transaction fees. If theprinter is owned by the user, then the user is the printer provider.

Each user also has a netpage account 820 which is used to accumulatemicro-debits and credits (such as those described in the precedingparagraph); contact details 815, including name, address and telephonenumbers; global preferences 816, including privacy, delivery andlocalization settings; any number of biometric records 817, containingthe user's encoded signature 818, fingerprint 819 etc; a handwritingmodel 819 automatically maintained by the system; and SET payment cardaccounts 821, with which e-commerce payments can be made.

In addition to the user-specific netpage account, each user also has anetpage account 936 specific to each printer the user is authorized touse. Each printer-specific account is used to accumulate micro-debitsand credits related to the user's activities on that printer. The useris billed on a regular basis for any outstanding debit balances.

A user optionally appears in the netpage user directory 823, allowingother users to locate and direct e-mail (etc.) to the user.

2.4 Intelligent Page Layout

The netpage publication server automatically lays out the pages of eachuser's personalized publication on a section-by-section basis. Sincemost advertisements are in the form of pre-formatted rectangles, theyare placed on the page before the editorial content.

The advertising ratio for a section can be achieved with wildly varyingadvertising ratios on individual pages within the section, and the adlayout algorithm exploits this. The algorithm is configured to attemptto co-locate closely tied editorial and advertising content, such asplacing ads for roofing material specifically within the publicationbecause of a special feature on do-it-yourself roofing repairs.

The editorial content selected for the user, including text andassociated images and graphics, is then laid out according to variousaesthetic rules.

The entire process, including the selection of ads and the selection ofeditorial content, must be iterated once the layout has converged, toattempt to more closely achieve the user's stated section sizepreference. The section size preference can, however, be matched onaverage over time, allowing significant day-to-day variations.

2.5 Document Format

Once the document is laid out, it is encoded for efficient distributionand persistent storage on the netpage network.

The primary efficiency mechanism is the separation of informationspecific to a single user's edition and information shared betweenmultiple users' editions. The specific information consists of the pagelayout. The shared information consists of the objects to which the pagelayout refers, including images, graphics, and pieces of text.

A text object contains fully-formatted text represented in theExtensible Markup Language (XML) using the Extensible StylesheetLanguage (XSL). XSL provides precise control over text formattingindependently of the region into which the text is being set, which inthis case is being provided by the layout. The text object containsembedded language codes to enable automatic translation, and embeddedhyphenation hints to aid with paragraph formatting.

An image object encodes an image in the JPEG 2000 wavelet-basedcompressed image format. A graphic object encodes a 2D graphic inScalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format.

The layout itself consists of a series of placed image and graphicobjects, linked textflow objects through which text objects flow,hyperlinks and input fields as described above, and watermark regions.These layout objects are summarized in Table 4. The layout uses acompact format suitable for efficient distribution and storage.

TABLE 4 netpage layout objects Layout object Attribute Format of linkedobject Image Position — Image object ID JPEG 2000 Graphic Position —Graphic object ID SVG Textflow Textflow ID — Zone — Optional text objectID XML/XSL Hyperlink Type — Zone — Application ID, etc. — Field Type —Meaning — Zone — Watermark Zone —2.6 Document Distribution

As described above, for purposes of efficient distribution andpersistent storage on the netpage network, a user-specific page layoutis separated from the shared objects to which it refers.

When a subscribed publication is ready to be distributed, the netpagepublication server allocates, with the help of the netpage ID server 12,a unique ID for each page, page instance, document, and documentinstance.

The server computes a set of optimized subsets of the shared content andcreates a multicast channel for each subset, and then tags eachuser-specific layout with the names of the multicast channels which willcarry the shared content used by that layout. The server then pointcastseach user's layouts to that user's printer via the appropriate pageserver, and when the pointcasting is complete, multicasts the sharedcontent on the specified channels. After receiving its pointcast, eachpage server and printer subscribes to the multicast channels specifiedin the page layouts. During the multicasts, each page server and printerextracts from the multicast streams those objects referred to by itspage layouts. The page servers persistently archive the received pagelayouts and shared content.

Once a printer has received all the objects to which its page layoutsrefer, the printer re-creates the fully-populated layout and thenrasterizes and prints it.

Under normal circumstances, the printer prints pages faster than theycan be delivered. Assuming a quarter of each page is covered withimages, the average page has a size of less than 400 KB. The printer cantherefore hold in excess of 100 such pages in its internal 64 MB memory,allowing for temporary buffers etc. The printer prints at a rate of onepage per second. This is equivalent to 400 KB or about 3 Mbit of pagedata per second, which is similar to the highest expected rate of pagedata delivery over a broadband network.

Even under abnormal circumstances, such as when the printer runs out ofpaper, it is likely that the user will be able to replenish the papersupply before the printer's 100-page internal storage capacity isexhausted.

However, if the printer's internal memory does fill up, then the printerwill be unable to make use of a multicast when it first occurs. Thenetpage publication server therefore allows printers to submit requestsfor re-multicasts. When a critical number of requests is received or atimeout occurs, the server re-multicasts the corresponding sharedobjects.

Once a document is printed, a printer can produce an exact duplicate atany time by retrieving its page layouts and contents from the relevantpage server.

2.7 On-demand Documents

When a netpage document is requested on demand, it can be personalizedand delivered in much the same way as a periodical. However, since thereis no shared content, delivery is made directly to the requestingprinter without the use of multicast.

When a non-netpage document is requested on demand, it is notpersonalized, and it is delivered via a designated netpage formattingserver which reformats it as a netpage document. A netpage formattingserver is a special instance of a netpage publication server. Thenetpage formatting server has knowledge of various Internet documentformats, including Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), and HypertextMarkup Language (HTML). In the case of HTML, it can make use of thehigher resolution of the printed page to present Web pages in amulti-column format, with a table of contents. It can automaticallyinclude all Web pages directly linked to the requested page. The usercan tune this behavior via a preference.

The netpage formatting server makes standard netpage behavior, includinginteractivity and persistence, available on any Internet document, nomatter what its origin and format. It hides knowledge of differentdocument formats from both the netpage printer and the netpage pageserver, and hides knowledge of the netpage system from Web servers.

2.8 ID Allocation

Unstructured netpage IDs such as the document ID 51, page ID (region ID)50, etc., may be assigned on demand through a multi-level assignmenthierarchy with a single root node. Lower-level assignors obtain blocksof IDs from higher-level assignors on demand. Unlike with structured IDassignment, these blocks correspond to arbitrary ranges (or even sets)of IDs, rather than to IDs with fixed prefixes. Each assignor in theassignment hierarchy ensures that blocks of IDs and individual IDs areassigned uniquely.

Both registration servers 11 and ID servers 12 act as ID assignors.

3 Security

3.1 Cryptography

Cryptography is used to protect sensitive information, both in storageand in transit, and to authenticate parties to a transaction. There aretwo classes of cryptography in widespread use: secret-key cryptographyand public-key cryptography. The netpage network uses both classes ofcryptography.

Secret-key cryptography, also referred to as symmetric cryptography,uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt a message. Two parties wishingto exchange messages must first arrange to securely exchange the secretkey.

Public-key cryptography, also referred to as asymmetric cryptography,uses two encryption keys. The two keys are mathematically related insuch a way that any message encrypted using one key can only bedecrypted using the other key. One of these keys is then published,while the other is kept private. The public key is used to encrypt anymessage intended for the holder of the private key. Once encrypted usingthe public key, a message can only be decrypted using the private key.Thus two parties can securely exchange messages without first having toexchange a secret key. To ensure that the private key is secure, it isnormal for the holder of the private key to generate the key pair.

Public-key cryptography can be used to create a digital signature. Theholder of the private key can create a known hash of a message and thenencrypt the hash using the private key. Anyone can then verify that theencrypted hash constitutes the “signature” of the holder of the privatekey with respect to that particular message by decrypting the encryptedhash using the public key and verifying the hash against the message. Ifthe signature is appended to the message, then the recipient of themessage can verify both that the message is genuine and that it has notbeen altered in transit.

To make public-key cryptography work, there has to be a way todistribute public keys which prevents impersonation. This is normallydone using certificates and certificate authorities. A certificateauthority is a trusted third party which authenticates the connectionbetween a public key and someone's identity. The certificate authorityverifies the person's identity by examining identity documents, and thencreates and signs a digital certificate containing the person's identitydetails and public key. Anyone who trusts the certificate authority canuse the public key in the certificate with a high degree of certaintythat it is genuine. They just have to verify that the certificate hasindeed been signed by the certificate authority, whose public key iswell-known.

In most transaction environments, public-key cryptography is only usedto create digital signatures and to securely exchange secret sessionkeys. Secret-key cryptography is used for all other purposes.

In the following discussion, when reference is made to the securetransmission of information between a netpage printer and a server, whatactually happens is that the printer obtains the server's certificate,authenticates it with reference to the certificate authority, uses thepublic key-exchange key in the certificate to exchange a secret sessionkey with the server, and then uses the secret session key to encrypt themessage data. A session key, by definition, can have an arbitrarilyshort lifetime.

3.2 Netpage Printer Security

Each netpage printer is assigned a pair of unique identifiers at time ofmanufacture which are stored in read-only memory in the printer and inthe netpage registration server database. The first ID 62 is public anduniquely identifies the printer on the netpage network. The second ID issecret and is used when the printer is first registered on the network.

When the printer connects to the netpage network for the first timeafter installation, it creates a signature public/private key pair. Ittransmits the secret ID and the public key securely to the netpageregistration server. The server compares the secret ID against theprinter's secret ID recorded in its database, and accepts theregistration if the IDs match. It then creates and signs a certificatecontaining the printer's public ID and public signature key, and storesthe certificate in the registration database.

The netpage registration server acts as a certificate authority fornetpage printers, since it has access to secret information allowing itto verify printer identity.

When a user subscribes to a publication, a record is created in thenetpage registration server database authorizing the publisher to printthe publication to the user's default printer or a specified printer.Every document sent to a printer via a page server is addressed to aparticular user and is signed by the publisher using the publisher'sprivate signature key. The page server verifies, via the registrationdatabase, that the publisher is authorized to deliver the publication tothe specified user. The page server verifies the signature using thepublisher's public key, obtained from the publisher's certificate storedin the registration database.

The netpage registration server accepts requests to add printingauthorizations to the database, so long as those requests are initiatedvia a pen registered to the printer.

3.3 Netpage Pen Security

Each netpage pen is assigned a unique identifier at time of manufacturewhich is stored in read-only memory in the pen and in the netpageregistration server database. The pen ID 61 uniquely identifies the penon the netpage network.

A netpage pen can “know” a number of netpage printers, and a printer can“know” a number of pens. A pen communicates with a printer via a radiofrequency signal whenever it is within range of the printer. Once a penand printer are registered, they regularly exchange session keys.Whenever the pen transmits digital ink to the printer, the digital inkis always encrypted using the appropriate session key. Digital ink isnever transmitted in the clear.

A pen stores a session key for every printer it knows, indexed byprinter ID, and a printer stores a session key for every pen it knows,indexed by pen ID. Both have a large but finite storage capacity forsession keys, and will forget a session key on a least-recently-usedbasis if necessary.

When a pen comes within range of a printer, the pen and printer discoverwhether they know each other. If they don't know each other, then theprinter determines whether it is supposed to know the pen. This mightbe, for example, because the pen belongs to a user who is registered touse the printer. If the printer is meant to know the pen but doesn't,then it initiates the automatic pen registration procedure. If theprinter isn't meant to know the pen, then it agrees with the pen toignore it until the pen is placed in a charging cup, at which time itinitiates the registration procedure.

In addition to its public ID, the pen contains a secret key-exchangekey. The key-exchange key is also recorded in the netpage registrationserver database at time of manufacture. During registration, the pentransmits its pen ID to the printer, and the printer transmits the penID to the netpage registration server. The server generates a sessionkey for the printer and pen to use, and securely transmits the sessionkey to the printer. It also transmits a copy of the session keyencrypted with the pen's key-exchange key. The printer stores thesession key internally, indexed by the pen ID, and transmits theencrypted session key to the pen. The pen stores the session keyinternally, indexed by the printer ID.

Although a fake pen can impersonate a pen in the pen registrationprotocol, only a real pen can decrypt the session key transmitted by theprinter.

When a previously unregistered pen is first registered, it is of limiteduse until it is linked to a user. A registered but “un-owned” pen isonly allowed to be used to request and fill in netpage user and penregistration forms, to register a new user to which the new pen isautomatically linked, or to add a new pen to an existing user.

The pen uses secret-key rather than public-key encryption because ofhardware performance constraints in the pen.

3.4 Secure Documents

The netpage system supports the delivery of secure documents such astickets and coupons. The netpage printer includes a facility to printwatermarks, but will only do so on request from publishers who aresuitably authorized. The publisher indicates its authority to printwatermarks in its certificate, which the printer is able toauthenticate.

The “watermark” printing process uses an alternative dither matrix inspecified “watermark” regions of the page. Back-to-back pages containmirror-image watermark regions which coincide when printed. The dithermatrices used in odd and even pages' watermark regions are designed toproduce an interference effect when the regions are viewed together,achieved by looking through the printed sheet.

The effect is similar to a watermark in that it is not visible whenlooking at only one side of the page, and is lost when the page iscopied by normal means.

Pages of secure documents cannot be copied using the built-in netpagecopy mechanism described in Section 1.9 above. This extends to copyingnetpages on netpage-aware photocopiers.

Secure documents are typically generated as part of e-commercetransactions. They can therefore include the user's photograph which wascaptured when the user registered biometric information with the netpageregistration server, as described in Section 2.

When presented with a secure netpage document, the recipient can verifyits authenticity by requesting its status in the usual way. The uniqueID of a secure document is only valid for the lifetime of the document,and secure document IDs are allocated non-contiguously to prevent theirprediction by opportunistic forgers. A secure document verification pencan be developed with built-in feedback on verification failure, tosupport easy point-of-presentation document verification.

Clearly neither the watermark nor the user's photograph are secure in acryptographic sense. They simply provide a significant obstacle tocasual forgery. Online document verification, particularly using averification pen, provides an added level of security where it isneeded, but is still not entirely immune to forgeries.

3.5 Non-Repudiation

In the netpage system, forms submitted by users are delivered reliablyto forms handlers and are persistently archived on netpage page servers.It is therefore impossible for recipients to repudiate delivery.

E-commerce payments made through the system, as described in Section 4,are also impossible for the payee to repudiate.

4 Electronic Commerce Model

4.1 Secure Electronic Transaction (SET)

The netpage system uses the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) systemas one of its payment systems. SET, having been developed by MasterCardand Visa, is organized around payment cards, and this is reflected inthe terminology. However, much of the system is independent of the typeof accounts being used.

In SET, cardholders and merchants register with a certificate authorityand are issued with certificates containing their public signature keys.The certificate authority verifies a cardholder's registration detailswith the card issuer as appropriate, and verifies a merchant'sregistration details with the acquirer as appropriate. Cardholders andmerchants store their respective private signature keys securely ontheir computers. During the payment process, these certificates are usedto mutually authenticate a merchant and cardholder, and to authenticatethem both to the payment gateway.

SET has not yet been adopted widely, partly because cardholdermaintenance of keys and certificates is considered burdensome. Interimsolutions which maintain cardholder keys and certificates on a serverand give the cardholder access via a password have met with somesuccess.

4.2 SET Payments

In the netpage system the netpage registration server acts as a proxyfor the netpage user (i.e. the cardholder) in SET payment transactions.

The netpage system uses biometrics to authenticate the user andauthorize SET payments. Because the system is pen-based, the biometricused is the user's on-line signature, consisting of time-varying penposition and pressure. A fingerprint biometric can also be used bydesigning a fingerprint sensor into the pen, although at a higher cost.The type of biometric used only affects the capture of the biometric,not the authorization aspects of the system.

The first step to being able to make SET payments is to register theuser's biometric with the netpage registration server. This is done in acontrolled environment, for example a bank, where the biometric can becaptured at the same time as the user's identity is verified. Thebiometric is captured and stored in the registration database, linked tothe user's record. The user's photograph is also optionally captured andlinked to the record. The SET cardholder registration process iscompleted, and the resulting private signature key and certificate arestored in the database. The user's payment card information is alsostored, giving the netpage registration server enough information to actas the user's proxy in any SET payment transaction.

When the user eventually supplies the biometric to complete a payment,for example by signing a netpage order form, the printer securelytransmits the order information, the pen ID and the biometric data tothe netpage registration server. The server verifies the biometric withrespect to the user identified by the pen ID, and from then on acts asthe user's proxy in completing the SET payment transaction.

4.3 Micro-Payments

The netpage system includes a mechanism for micro-payments, to allow theuser to be conveniently charged for printing low-cost documents ondemand and for copying copyright documents, and possibly also to allowthe user to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in printing advertisingmaterial. The latter depends on the level of subsidy already provided tothe user.

When the user registers for e-commerce, a network account is establishedwhich aggregates micro-payments. The user receives a statement on aregular basis, and can settle any outstanding debit balance using thestandard payment mechanism.

The network account can be extended to aggregate subscription fees forperiodicals, which would also otherwise be presented to the user in theform of individual statements.

4.4 Transactions

When a user requests a netpage in a particular application context, theapplication is able to embed a user-specific transaction ID 55 in thepage. Subsequent input through the page is tagged with the transactionID, and the application is thereby able to establish an appropriatecontext for the user's input.

When input occurs through a page which is not user-specific, however,the application must use the user's unique identity to establish acontext. A typical example involves adding items from a pre-printedcatalog page to the user's virtual “shopping cart”. To protect theuser's privacy, however, the unique user ID 60 known to the netpagesystem is not divulged to applications. This is to prevent differentapplication providers from easily correlating independently accumulatedbehavioral data.

The netpage registration server instead maintains an anonymousrelationship between a user and an application via a unique alias ID 65,as shown in FIG. 24. Whenever the user activates a hyperlink tagged withthe “registered” attribute, the netpage page server asks the netpageregistration server to translate the associated application ID 64,together with the pen ID 61, into an alias ID 65. The alias ID is thensubmitted to the hyperlink's application.

The application maintains state information indexed by alias ID, and isable to retrieve user-specific state information without knowledge ofthe global identity of the user.

The system also maintains an independent certificate and privatesignature key for each of a user's applications, to allow it to signapplication transactions on behalf of the user using onlyapplication-specific information.

To assist the system in routing product bar code (e.g. UPC) and similarproduct-item-related “hyperlink” activations, the system records afavorite application on behalf of the user for any number of producttypes. For example, a user may nominate Amazon as their favoritebookseller, while a different user may nominate Barnes and Noble. Whenthe first user requests book-related information, e.g. via a printedbook review or via an actual book, they are provided with theinformation by Amazon.

Each application is associated with an application provider, and thesystem maintains an account on behalf of each application provider, toallow it to credit and debit the provider for click-through fees etc.

An application provider can be a publisher of periodical subscribedcontent. The system records the user's willingness to receive thesubscribed publication, as well as the expected frequency ofpublication.

5 Communications Protocols

A communications protocol defines an ordered exchange of messagesbetween entities. In the netpage system, entities such as pens, printersand servers utilise a set of defined protocols to cooperatively handleuser interaction with the netpage system.

Each protocol is illustrated by way of a sequence diagram in which thehorizontal dimension is used to represent message flow and the verticaldimension is used to represent time. Each entity is represented by arectangle containing the name of the entity and a vertical columnrepresenting the lifeline of the entity. During the time an entityexists, the lifeline is shown as a dashed line. During the time anentity is active, the lifeline is shown as a double line. Because theprotocols considered here do not create or destroy entities, lifelinesare generally cut short as soon as an entity ceases to participate in aprotocol.

5.1 Subscription Delivery Protocol

A preferred embodiment of a subscription delivery protocol is shown inFIG. 40.

A large number of users may subscribe to a periodical publication. Eachuser's edition may be laid out differently, but many users' editionswill share common content such as text objects and image objects. Thesubscription delivery protocol therefore delivers document structures toindividual printers via pointcast, but delivers shared content objectsvia multicast.

The application (i.e. publisher) first obtains a document ID 51 for eachdocument from an ID server 12. It then sends each document structure,including its document ID and page descriptions, to the page server 10responsible for the document's newly allocated ID. It includes its ownapplication ID 64, the subscriber's alias ID 65, and the relevant set ofmulticast channel names. It signs the message using its privatesignature key.

The page server uses the application ID and alias ID to obtain from theregistration server the corresponding user ID 60, the user's selectedprinter ID 62 (which may be explicitly selected for the application, ormay be the user's default printer), and the application's certificate.

The application's certificate allows the page server to verify themessage signature. The page server's request to the registration serverfails if the application ID and alias ID don't together identify asubscription 808.

The page server then allocates document and page instance IDs andforwards the page descriptions, including page IDs 50, to the printer.It includes the relevant set of multicast channel names for the printerto listen to.

It then returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application forfuture reference.

Once the application has distributed all of the document structures tothe subscribers' selected printers via the relevant page servers, itmulticasts the various subsets of the shared objects on the previouslyselected multicast channels. Both page servers and printers monitor theappropriate multicast channels and receive their required contentobjects. They are then able to populate the previously pointcastdocument structures. This allows the page servers to add completedocuments to their databases, and it allows the printers to print thedocuments.

5.2 Hyperlink Activation Protocol

A preferred embodiment of a hyperlink activation protocol is shown inFIG. 42.

When a user clicks on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pen communicatesthe click to the nearest netpage printer 601. The click identifies thepage and a location on the page. The printer already knows the ID 61 ofthe pen from the pen connection protocol.

The printer determines, via the DNS, the network address of the pageserver 10 a handling the particular page ID 50. The address may alreadybe in its cache if the user has recently interacted with the same page.The printer then forwards the pen ID, its own printer ID 62, the page IDand click location to the page server.

The page server loads the page description 5 identified by the page IDand determines which input element's zone 58, if any, the click lies in.Assuming the relevant input element is a hyperlink element 844, the pageserver then obtains the associated application ID 64 and link ID 54, anddetermines, via the DNS, the network address of the application serverhosting the application 71.

The page server uses the pen ID 61 to obtain the corresponding user ID60 from the registration server 11, and then allocates a globally uniquehyperlink request ID 52 and builds a hyperlink request 934. Thehyperlink request class diagram is shown in FIG. 41. The hyperlinkrequest records the IDs of the requesting user and printer, andidentifies the clicked hyperlink instance 862. The page server thensends its own server ID 53, the hyperlink request ID, and the link ID tothe application.

The application produces a response document according toapplication-specific logic, and obtains a document ID 51 from an IDserver 12. It then sends the document to the page server 10 bresponsible for the document's newly allocated ID, together with therequesting page server's ID and the hyperlink request ID.

The second page server sends the hyperlink request ID and application IDto the first page server to obtain the corresponding user ID and printerID 62. The first page server rejects the request if the hyperlinkrequest has expired or is for a different application.

The second page server allocates document instance and page IDs 50,returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application, adds thecomplete document to its own database, and finally sends the pagedescriptions to the requesting printer.

The hyperlink instance may include a meaningful transaction ID 55, inwhich case the first page server includes the transaction ID in themessage sent to the application. This allows the application toestablish a transaction-specific context for the hyperlink activation.

If the hyperlink requires a user alias, i.e. its “alias required”attribute is set, then the first page server sends both the pen ID 61and the hyperlink's application ID 64 to the registration server 11 toobtain not just the user ID corresponding to the pen ID but also thealias ID 65 corresponding to the application ID and the user ID. Itincludes the alias ID in the message sent to the application, allowingthe application to establish a user-specific context for the hyperlinkactivation.

5.3 Handwriting Recognition Protocol

When a user draws a stroke on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pencommunicates the stroke to the nearest netpage printer. The strokeidentifies the page and a path on the page.

The printer forwards the pen ID 61, its own printer ID 62, the page ID50 and stroke path to the page server 10 in the usual way.

The page server loads the page description 5 identified by the page IDand determines which input element's zone 58, if any, the strokeintersects. Assuming the relevant input element is a text field 878, thepage server appends the stroke to the text field's digital ink.

After a period of inactivity in the zone of the text field, the pageserver sends the pen ID and the pending strokes to the registrationserver 11 for interpretation. The registration server identifies theuser corresponding to the pen, and uses the user's accumulatedhandwriting model 822 to interpret the strokes as handwritten text. Onceit has converted the strokes to text, the registration server returnsthe text to the requesting page server. The page server appends the textto the text value of the text field.

5.4 Signature Verification Protocol

Assuming the input element whose zone the stroke intersects is asignature field 880, the page server 10 appends the stroke to thesignature field's digital ink.

After a period of inactivity in the zone of the signature field, thepage server sends the pen ID 61 and the pending strokes to theregistration server 11 for verification. It also sends the applicationID 64 associated with the form of which the signature field is part, aswell as the form ID 56 and the current data content of the form. Theregistration server identifies the user corresponding to the pen, anduses the user's dynamic signature biometric 818 to verify the strokes asthe user's signature. Once it has verified the signature, theregistration server uses the application ID 64 and user ID 60 toidentify the user's application-specific private signature key. It thenuses the key to generate a digital signature of the form data, andreturns the digital signature to the requesting page server. The pageserver assigns the digital signature to the signature field and sets theassociated form's status to frozen.

The digital signature includes the alias ID 65 of the correspondinguser. This allows a single form to capture multiple users' signatures.

5.5 Form Submission Protocol

A preferred embodiment of a form submission protocol is shown in FIG.43.

Form submission occurs via a form hyperlink activation. It thus followsthe protocol defined in Section 5.2, with some form-specific additions.

In the case of a form hyperlink, the hyperlink activation message sentby the page server 10 to the application 71 also contains the form ID 56and the current data content of the form. If the form contains anysignature fields, then the application verifies each one by extractingthe alias ID 65 associated with the corresponding digital signature andobtaining the corresponding certificate from the registration server 11.

6 Netpage Pen Description

6.1 Pen Mechanics

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the pen, generally designated by referencenumeral 101, includes a housing 102 in the form of a plastics mouldinghaving walls 103 defining an interior space 104 for mounting the pencomponents. The pen top 105 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end106 of the housing 102. A semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to theopposite end 108 of the housing 102. The cover 107 is also of mouldedplastics, and is formed from semi-transparent material in order toenable the user to view the status of the LED mounted within the housing102. The cover 107 includes a main part 109 which substantiallysurrounds the end 108 of the housing 102 and a projecting portion 110which projects back from the main part 109 and fits within acorresponding slot 111 formed in the walls 103 of the housing 102. Aradio antenna 112 is mounted behind the projecting portion 110, withinthe housing 102. Screw threads 113 surrounding an aperture 113A on thecover 107 are arranged to receive a metal end piece 114, includingcorresponding screw threads 115. The metal end piece 114 is removable toenable ink cartridge replacement.

Also mounted within the cover 107 is a tri-color status LED 116 on aflex PCB 117. The antenna 112 is also mounted on the flex PCB 117. Thestatus LED 116 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good all-aroundvisibility.

The pen can operate both as a normal marking ink pen and as anon-marking stylus. An ink pen cartridge 118 with nib 119 and a stylus120 with stylus nib 121 are mounted side by side within the housing 102.Either the ink cartridge nib 119 or the stylus nib 121 can be broughtforward through open end 122 of the metal end piece 114, by rotation ofthe pen top 105. Respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to theink cartridge 118 and stylus 120, respectively. A rotatable cam barrel125 is secured to the pen top 105 in operation and arranged to rotatetherewith. The cam barrel 125 includes a cam 126 in the form of a slotwithin the walls 181 of the cam barrel. Cam followers 127 and 128projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit within the cam slot 126.On rotation of the cam barrel 125, the slider blocks 123 or 124 moverelative to each other to project either the pen nib 119 or stylus nib121 out through the hole 122 in the metal end piece 114. The pen 101 hasthree states of operation. By turning the top 105 through 90° steps, thethree states are:

-   -   stylus 120 nib 121 out    -   ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out, and    -   neither ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out nor stylus 120 nib 121 out

A second flex PCB 129, is mounted on an electronics chassis 130 whichsits within the housing 102. The second flex PCB 129 mounts an infraredLED 131 for providing infrared radiation for projection onto thesurface. An image sensor 132 is provided mounted on the second flex PCB129 for receiving reflected radiation from the surface. The second flexPCB 129 also mounts a radio frequency chip 133, which includes an RFtransmitter and RF receiver, and a controller chip 134 for controllingoperation of the pen 101. An optics block 135 (formed from moulded clearplastics) sits within the cover 107 and projects an infrared beam ontothe surface and receives images onto the image sensor 132. Power supplywires 136 connect the components on the second flex PCB 129 to batterycontacts 137 which are mounted within the cam barrel 125. A terminal 138connects to the battery contacts 137 and the cam barrel 125. A threevolt rechargeable battery 139 sits within the cam barrel 125 in contactwith the battery contacts. An induction charging coil 140 is mountedabout the second flex PCB 129 to enable recharging of the battery 139via induction. The second flex PCB 129 also mounts an infrared LED 143and infrared photodiode 144 for detecting displacement in the cam barrel125 when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartridge 118 is used forwriting, in order to enable a determination of the force being appliedto the surface by the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121. The IR photodiode144 detects light from the IR LED 143 via reflectors (not shown) mountedon the slider blocks 123 and 124.

Rubber grip pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end 108 of thehousing 102 to assist gripping the pen 101, and top 105 also includes aclip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket.

6.2 Pen Controller

The pen 101 is arranged to determine the position of its nib (stylus nib121 or ink cartridge nib 119) by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, anarea of the surface in the vicinity of the nib. It records the locationdata from the nearest location tag, and is arranged to calculate thedistance of the nib 121 or 119 from the location tab utilising optics135 and controller chip 134. The controller chip 134 calculates theorientation of the pen and the nib-to-tag distance from the perspectivedistortion observed on the imaged tag.

Utilising the RF chip 133 and antenna 112 the pen 101 can transmit thedigital ink data (which is encrypted for security and packaged forefficient transmission) to the computing system.

When the pen is in range of a receiver, the digital ink data istransmitted as it is formed. When the pen 101 moves out of range,digital ink data is buffered within the pen 101 (the pen 101 circuitryincludes a buffer arranged to store digital ink data for approximately12 minutes of the pen motion on the surface) and can be transmittedlater.

The controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex PCB 129 in the pen101. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail thearchitecture of the controller chip 134. FIG. 10 also showsrepresentations of the RF chip 133, the image sensor 132, the tri-colorstatus LED 116, the IR illumination LED 131, the IR force sensor LED143, and the force sensor photodiode 144.

The pen controller chip 134 includes a controlling processor 145. Bus146 enables the exchange of data between components of the controllerchip 134. Flash memory 147 and a 512 KB DRAM 148 are also included. Ananalog-to-digital converter 149 is arranged to convert the analog signalfrom the force sensor photodiode 144 to a digital signal.

An image sensor interface 152 interfaces with the image sensor 132. Atransceiver controller 153 and base band circuit 154 are also includedto interface with the RF chip 133 which includes an RF circuit 155 andRF resonators and inductors 156 connected to the antenna 112.

The controlling processor 145 captures and decodes location data fromtags from the surface via the image sensor 132, monitors the forcesensor photodiode 144, controls the LEDs 116, 131 and 143, and handlesshort-range radio communication via the radio transceiver 153. It is amedium-performance (˜40 MHz) general-purpose RISC processor.

The processor 145, digital transceiver components (transceivercontroller 153 and baseband circuit 154), image sensor interface 152,flash memory 147 and 512 KB DRAM 148 are integrated in a singlecontroller ASIC. Analog RF components (RF circuit 155 and RF resonatorsand inductors 156) are provided in the separate RF chip.

The image sensor is a CCD or CMOS image sensor. Depending on taggingscheme, it has a size ranging from about 100×100 pixels to 200×200pixels. Many miniature CMOS image sensors are commercially available,including the National Semiconductor LM9630.

The controller ASIC 134 enters a quiescent state after a period ofinactivity when the pen 101 is not in contact with a surface. Itincorporates a dedicated circuit 150 which monitors the force sensorphotodiode 144 and wakes up the controller 134 via the power manager 151on a pen-down event.

The radio transceiver communicates in the unlicensed 900 MHz bandnormally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and usesfrequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-freecommunication.

In an alternative embodiment, the pen incorporates an Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA) interface for short-range communication with a basestation or netpage printer.

In a further embodiment, the pen 101 includes a pair of orthogonalaccelerometers mounted in the normal plane of the pen 101 axis. Theaccelerometers 190 are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 in ghost outline.

The provision of the accelerometers enables this embodiment of the pen101 to sense motion without reference to surface location tags, allowingthe location tags to be sampled at a lower rate. Each location tag IDcan then identify an object of interest rather than a position on thesurface. For example, if the object is a user interface input element(e.g. a command button), then the tag ID of each location tag within thearea of the input element can directly identify the input element.

The acceleration measured by the accelerometers in each of the x and ydirections is integrated with respect to time to produce aninstantaneous velocity and position.

Since the starting position of the stroke is not known, only relativepositions within a stroke are calculated. Although position integrationaccumulates errors in the sensed acceleration, accelerometers typicallyhave high resolution, and the time duration of a stroke, over whicherrors accumulate, is short.

7 Netpage Printer Description

7.1 Printer Mechanics

The vertically-mounted netpage wallprinter 601 is shown fully assembledin FIG. 11. It prints netpages on Letter/A4 sized media using duplexed8½″ Memjet™ print engines 602 and 603, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 12 a. Ituses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passing through theduplexed print engines 602 and 603 which print both sides of a sheetsimultaneously, in full color and with full bleed.

An integral binding assembly 605 applies a strip of glue along one edgeof each printed sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet whenpressed against it. This creates a final bound document 618 which canrange in thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets.

The replaceable ink cartridge 627, shown in FIG. 13 coupled with theduplexed print engines, has bladders or chambers for storing fixative,adhesive, and cyan, magenta, yellow, black and infrared inks. Thecartridge also contains a micro air filter in a base molding. The microair filter interfaces with an air pump 638 inside the printer via a hose639. This provides filtered air to the printheads to prevent ingress ofmicro particles into the Memjet™ printheads 350 which might otherwiseclog the printhead nozzles. By incorporating the air filter within thecartridge, the operational life of the filter is effectively linked tothe life of the cartridge. The ink cartridge is a fully recyclableproduct with a capacity for printing and gluing 3000 pages (1500sheets).

Referring to FIG. 12, the motorized media pick-up roller assembly 626pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray past a paper sensor onthe first print engine 602 into the duplexed Memjet™ printhead assembly.The two Memjet™ print engines 602 and 603 are mounted in an opposingin-line sequential configuration along the straight paper path. Thepaper 604 is drawn into the first print engine 602 by integral, poweredpick-up rollers 626. The position and size of the paper 604 is sensedand full bleed printing commences. Fixative is printed simultaneously toaid drying in the shortest possible time.

The paper exits the first Memjet™ print engine 602 through a set ofpowered exit spike wheels (aligned along the straight paper path), whichact against a rubberized roller. These spike wheels contact the ‘wet’printed surface and continue to feed the sheet 604 into the secondMemjet™ print engine 603.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 12 a, the paper 604 passes from the duplexedprint engines 602 and 603 into the binder assembly 605. The printed pagepasses between a powered spike wheel axle 670 with a fibrous supportroller and another movable axle with spike wheels and a momentary actionglue wheel. The movable axle/glue assembly 673 is mounted to a metalsupport bracket and it is transported forward to interface with thepowered axle 670 via gears by action of a camshaft. A separate motorpowers this camshaft.

The glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 witha rotating coupling for the glue supply hose 641 from the ink cartridge627. This axle 679 connects to a glue wheel, which absorbs adhesive bycapillary action through radial holes. A molded housing 682 surroundsthe glue wheel, with an opening at the front. Pivoting side moldings andsprung outer doors are attached to the metal bracket and hinge outsideways when the rest of the assembly 673 is thrust forward. Thisaction exposes the glue wheel through the front of the molded housing682. Tension springs close the assembly and effectively cap the gluewheel during periods of inactivity.

As the sheet 604 passes into the glue wheel assembly 673, adhesive isapplied to one vertical edge on the front side (apart from the firstsheet of a document) as it is transported down into the binding assembly605.

7.2 Printer Controller Architecture

The netpage printer controller consists of a controlling processor 750,a factory-installed or field-installed network interface module 625, aradio transceiver (transceiver controller 753, baseband circuit 754, RFcircuit 755, and RF resonators and inductors 756), dual raster imageprocessor (RIP) DSPs 757, duplexed print engine controllers 760 a and760 b, flash memory 658, and 64 MB of DRAM 657, as illustrated in FIG.14.

The controlling processor handles communication with the network 19 andwith local wireless netpage pens 101, senses the help button 617,controls the user interface LEDs 613-616, and feeds and synchronizes theRIP DSPs 757 and print engine controllers 760. It consists of amedium-performance general-purpose microprocessor. The controllingprocessor 750 communicates with the print engine controllers 760 via ahigh-speed serial bus 659.

The RIP DSPs rasterize and compress page descriptions to the netpageprinter's compressed page format. Each print engine controller expands,dithers and prints page images to its associated Memjet™ printhead 350in real time (i.e. at over 30 pages per minute). The duplexed printengine controllers print both sides of a sheet simultaneously.

The master print engine controller 760 a controls the paper transportand monitors ink usage in conjunction with the master QA chip 665 andthe ink cartridge QA chip 761.

The printer controller's flash memory 658 holds the software for boththe processor 750 and the DSPs 757, as well as configuration data. Thisis copied to main memory 657 at boot time.

The processor 750, DSPs 757, and digital transceiver components(transceiver controller 753 and baseband circuit 754) are integrated ina single controller ASIC 656. Analog RF components (RF circuit 755 andRF resonators and inductors 756) are provided in a separate RF chip 762.The network interface module 625 is separate, since netpage printersallow the network connection to be factory-selected or field-selected.Flash memory 658 and the 2×256 Mbit (64 MB) DRAM 657 is also off-chip.The print engine controllers 760 are provided in separate ASICs.

A variety of network interface modules 625 are provided, each providinga netpage network interface 751 and optionally a local computer ornetwork interface 752. netpage network Internet interfaces include POTSmodems, Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) cable modems, ISDN modems, DSL modems,satellite transceivers, current and next-generation cellular telephonetransceivers, and wireless local loop (WLL) transceivers. Localinterfaces include IEEE 1284 (parallel port), 10Base-T and 100Base-TEthernet, USB and USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), and various emerginghome networking interfaces. If an Internet connection is available onthe local network, then the local network interface can be used as thenetpage network interface.

The radio transceiver 753 communicates in the unlicensed 900 MHz bandnormally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and usesfrequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-freecommunication.

The printer controller optionally incorporates an Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA) interface for receiving data “squirted” from devicessuch as netpage cameras. In an alternative embodiment, the printer usesthe IrDA interface for short-range communication with suitablyconfigured netpage pens.

7.2.1 Rasterization and Printing

Once the main processor 750 has received and verified the document'spage layouts and page objects, it runs the appropriate RIP software onthe DSPs 757.

The DSPs 757 rasterize each page description and compress the rasterizedpage image.

The main processor stores each compressed page image in memory. Thesimplest way to load-balance multiple DSPs is to let each DSP rasterizea separate page. The DSPs can always be kept busy since an arbitrarynumber of rasterized pages can, in general, be stored in memory. Thisstrategy only leads to potentially poor DSP utilization when rasterizingshort documents.

Watermark regions in the page description are rasterized to acontone-resolution bi-level bitmap which is losslessly compressed tonegligible size and which forms part of the compressed page image.

The infrared (IR) layer of the printed page contains coded netpage tagsat a density of about six per inch. Each tag encodes the page ID, tagID, and control bits, and the data content of each tag is generatedduring rasterization and stored in the compressed page image.

The main processor 750 passes back-to-back page images to the duplexedprint engine controllers 760. Each print engine controller 760 storesthe compressed page image in its local memory, and starts the pageexpansion and printing pipeline. Page expansion and printing ispipelined because it is impractical to store an entire 114 MB bi-levelCMYK+IR page image in memory.

7.2.2 Print Engine Controller

The page expansion and printing pipeline of the print engine controller760 consists of a high speed IEEE 1394 serial interface 659, a standardJPEG decoder 763, a standard Group 4 Fax decoder 764, a customhalftoner/compositor unit 765, a custom tag encoder 766, a lineloader/formatter unit 767, and a custom interface 768 to the Memjet™printhead 350.

The print engine controller 360 operates in a double buffered manner.While one page is loaded into DRAM 769 via the high speed serialinterface 659, the previously loaded page is read from DRAM 769 andpassed through the print engine controller pipeline. Once the page hasfinished printing, the page just loaded is printed while another page isloaded.

The first stage of the pipeline expands (at 763) the JPEG-compressedcontone CMYK layer, expands (at 764) the Group 4 Fax-compressed bi-levelblack layer, and renders (at 766) the bi-level netpage tag layeraccording to the tag format defined in section 1.2, all in parallel. Thesecond stage dithers (at 765) the contone CMYK layer and composites (at765) the bi-level black layer over the resulting bi-level CMYK layer.The resultant bi-level CMYK+IR dot data is buffered and formatted (at767) for printing on the Memjet™ printhead 350 via a set of linebuffers. Most of these line buffers are stored in the off-chip DRAM. Thefinal stage prints the six channels of bi-level dot data (includingfixative) to the Memjet™ printhead 350 via the printhead interface 768.

When several print engine controllers 760 are used in unison, such as ina duplexed configuration, they are synchronized via a shared line syncsignal 770. Only one print engine 760, selected via the externalmaster/slave pin 771, generates the line sync signal 770 onto the sharedline.

The print engine controller 760 contains a low-speed processor 772 forsynchronizing the page expansion and rendering pipeline, configuring theprinthead 350 via a low-speed serial bus 773, and controlling thestepper motors 675, 676.

In the 8½″ versions of the netpage printer, the two print engines eachprints 30 Letter pages per minute along the long dimension of the page(11″), giving a line rate of 8.8 kHz at 1600 dpi. In the 12″ versions ofthe netpage printer, the two print engines each prints 45 Letter pagesper minute along the short dimension of the page (8½″), giving a linerate of 10.2 kHz. These line rates are well within the operatingfrequency of the Memjet™ printhead, which in the current design exceeds30 kHz.

8 Product Tagging

Automatic identification refers to the use of technologies such as barcodes, magnetic stripe cards, smartcards, and RF transponders, to(semi-)automatically identify objects to data processing systems withoutmanual keying. Existing systems typically utilise RFID tags ortwo-dimensional bar codes as discussed above.

However, significant problems exist with such systems and it istherefore proposed to provide tags utilising the netpage tagging system,herein after referred to as Hyperlabel™ tagging.

8.1 Hyperlabel™ Tagging in the Supply Chain

Using an invisible (e.g. infrared) tagging scheme such as the netpagetagging scheme described above to uniquely identify a product item hasthe significant advantage that it allows the entire surface of a productto be tagged, or a significant portion thereof, without impinging on thegraphic design of the product's packaging or labelling. If the entireproduct surface is tagged, then the orientation of the product doesn'taffect its ability to be scanned, i.e. a significant part of theline-of-sight disadvantage of a visible bar code is eliminated.Furthermore, since the tags are small and massively replicated, labeldamage no longer prevents scanning.

Hyperlabel™ tagging, then, consists of covering a large proportion ofthe surface of a product item with optically-readable invisible tags.When the tags utilise reflection or absorption in the infrared spectrumthey are also referred to as infrared identification (IRID) tags. EachHyperlabel™ tag uniquely identifies the product item on which itappears. The Hyperlabel™ tag may directly encode the product code (e.g.EPC) of the item, or may encode a surrogate ID which in turn identifiesthe product code via a database lookup. Each Hyperlabel™ tag alsooptionally identifies its own position on the surface of the productitem, to provide the downstream consumer benefits of netpageinteractivity described earlier.

Hyperlabel™ tags are applied during product manufacture and/or packagingusing digital printers. These may be add-on infrared printers whichprint the Hyperlabel™ tags after the text and graphics have been printedby other means, or integrated color and infrared printers which printthe Hyperlabel™ tags, text and graphics simultaneously.Digitally-printed text and graphics may include everything on the labelor packaging, or may consist only of the variable portions, with otherportions still printed by other means.

The economic case for IRID Hyperlabel™ tagging is discussed in moredetail below.

8.2 Hyperlabel™ Tagging

As shown in FIG. 18, a product's unique item ID 215 may be seen as aspecial kind of unique object ID 210. The Electronic Product Code (EPC)220 is one emerging standard for an item ID. An item ID typicallyconsists of a product ID 214 and a serial number 213. The product IDidentifies a class of product, while the serial number identifies aparticular instance of that class, i.e. an individual product item. Theproduct ID in turn typically consists of a manufacturer number 211 and aproduct class number 212. The best-known product ID is the EAN.UCCUniversal Product Code (UPC) 221 and its variants.

As shown in FIG. 19, a Hyperlabel™ tag 202 encodes a page ID (or regionID) 50 and a two-dimensional (2D) position 86. The region ID identifiesthe surface region containing the tag, and the position identifies thetag's position within the two-dimensional region. Since the surface inquestion is the surface of a physical product item 201, it is useful todefine a one-to-one mapping between the region ID and the unique objectID 210, and more specifically the item ID 215, of the product item.Note, however, that the mapping can be many-to-one without compromisingthe utility of the Hyperlabel™ tag. For example, each panel of a productitem's packaging could have a different region ID 50. Conversely, theHyperlabel™ tag may directly encode the item ID, in which case theregion ID contains the item ID, suitably prefixed to decouple item IDallocation from general netpage region ID allocation. Note that theregion ID uniquely distinguishes the corresponding surface region fromall other surface regions identified within the global netpage system.Directly encoding the item ID 215 in the region ID 50 is preferred,since it allows the item ID to be obtained directly from the Hyperlabel™tag without additional lookup, thus facilitating more seamlessintegration with inventory systems and the like.

The item ID 215 is preferably the EPC 220 proposed by the Auto-IDCenter, since this provides direct compatibility between Hyperlabel™tags and EPC-carrying RFID tags.

In FIG. 19 the position 86 is shown as optional. This is to indicatethat much of the utility of the Hyperlabel™ tag in the supply chainderives from the region ID 50, and the position may be omitted if notdesired for a particular product.

For interoperability with the netpage system, a Hyperlabel™ tag 202 is anetpage tag 4, i.e. it has the logical structure, physical layout andsemantics of a netpage tag.

In one example, when a netpage sensing device such as the netpage pen101 images and decodes a Hyperlabel™ tag, it uses the position andorientation of the tag in its field of view to compute its own positionrelative to the tag, and it combines this with the position encoded inthe tag, to compute its own position relative to the region containingthe tag. As the sensing device is moved relative to a Hyperlabel™ taggedsurface region, it is thereby able to track its own motion relative tothe region and generate a set of timestamped position samplesrepresentative of its time-varying path. When the sensing device is apen, then the path consists of a sequence of strokes, with each strokestarting when the pen makes contact with the surface, and ending whenthe pen breaks contact with the surface.

When a stroke is forwarded to the page server 10 responsible for theregion ID, the server retrieves a description of the region keyed byregion ID, and interprets the stroke in relation to the description. Forexample, if the description includes a hyperlink and the strokeintersects the zone of the hyperlink, then the server may interpret thestroke as a designation of the hyperlink and activate the hyperlink.

8.2.1 Item ID Management

As previously described, a structured item ID 215 typically has athree-level encoding, consisting of a manufacturer number 211, a productclass number 212, and a serial number 213. In the EPC the manufacturernumber corresponds to the manager ID. Manufacturer numbers are assignedto particular manufacturers 235 by a governing body such as EAN,EPCglobal (UCC). Within the scope of each manufacturer number themanufacturer 235 assigns product class numbers to particular productclasses 236, and within the scope of each product class number themanufacturer assigns serial numbers to individual product items 237.Each assignor in the assignment hierarchy ensures that each component ofthe item ID is assigned uniquely, with the end result that an item IDuniquely identifies a single product item. Each assigned item IDcomponent is robustly recorded to ensure unique assignment, andsubsequently becomes a database key to details about the correspondingmanufacturer, product or item. At the product level this information mayinclude the product's description, dimensions, weight and price, whileat the item level it may include the item's expiry date and place ofmanufacture.

As shown in FIG. 20, a collection of related product classes may berecorded as a single product type 238, identified by a unique producttype ID 217. This provides the basis for mapping a scanned or otherwiseobtained product ID 214 (or the product ID portion of a scanned orotherwise obtained item ID 215) to a product type 238. This in turnallows a favorite application 828 for that product type to be identifiedfor a particular netpage user 800, as shown in FIG. 24.

As a product item moves through the supply chain, status information isideally maintained in a globally accessible database, keyed by the itemID. This information may include the item's dynamic position in thepackaging, shipping and transportation hierarchy, its location on astore shelf, and ultimately the date and time of its sale and therecipient of that sale. In a packaging, shipping and transportationhierarchy, higher level units such as cases, pallets, shippingcontainers and trucks all have their own item IDs, and this provides thebasis for recording the dynamic hierarchy in which the end product itemparticipates. Note that the concept of an item also extends to asub-component of an assembly or a component or element of a saleableproduct.

FIG. 20 shows the product description hierarchy corresponding to thestructure of the item ID; the product item's dynamic participation in adynamic packaging, shipping and transportation hierarchy; and theproduct item's dynamic ownership. As the figure shows, a container 231(e.g. case, pallet, shipping container, or truck) is a special case ofan uniquely identified object 230. The fact that the container isholding, or has held, a particular object for the duration of some timeinterval is represented by the time-stamped object location 234, whereinthe end time remains unspecified until the container ceases to hold theitem. The object-container relationship is recursive, allowing it torepresent an arbitrary dynamic hierarchy. Clearly this representationcan be expanded to record the time-varying relative or absolutegeographic location of an object.

The fact that an entity 232 owns, or has owned, a particular object forthe duration of some time interval is represented by the time-stampedobject ownership 233, wherein the end time remains unspecified until theentity ceases to own the item. The owning entity 232 may represent anetpage user 800, e.g. when a netpage user purchases a product item andthe sale is recorded, or some other supply chain participant such as amanufacturer, distributor or retailer.

As shown in FIG. 56, a physical product item 201 is recorded as aproduct item 237 by a product server 251. A product item may be recordedin multiple product servers, managed by different participants in thesupply chain such as manufacturers, distributors and retailers. However,benefits accrue from providing a unified view of a product item, even ifthe unified view is provided virtually.

To foster interoperability between different supply chain participantsand between disparate systems which may want to query and update bothstatic and dynamic item information, such information interchanges areideally performed using a standard representation. The MIT Auto-IDCenter's Physical Markup Language (PML) is an example of a standardrepresentation designed for this purpose. For a detailed description ofPML, refer to Brock, D. L. et al., The Physical Markup Language, MITAuto-ID Center (June 2001), the contents of which are hereinincorporated by cross-reference.

The Auto-ID Centre has proposed a distributed architecture wherein arelevant supply chain participants are notified of product movements inan event-driven manner.

In general there is a single public source of information about an itemidentified by an item ID, and there is a mechanism which resolves anitem ID into the network address of a corresponding server. In the caseof an EPC, the ONS resolver rewrites the EPC into the domain name of theproduct server, and then uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolvethe domain name into the address of the product server. The DNS allows adomain name to resolve to a list of addresses, providing a basis forboth load balancing and fault tolerance. DNS lookups are made efficientby caching of results.

8.2.2 EPC-Driven Supply Chain Example

In a supply chain driven by EPC scan data, legacy database systems willtypically be enhanced to support the description and tracking ofEPC-tagged containers and product items. Some scan events result inmessage flow between systems, while other scan events result in purelylocal database updates.

The EPC administrator (EPCglobal) allocates an EPC manager number to themanufacturer for the exclusive use of a manufacturer. The manufacturerin turn allocates an object class number to each of its products. Whenthe manufacturer produces a batch of a particular product, it allocateseach product item a unique serial number within the corresponding objectclass, and encodes the entire EPC in the Hyperlabel™ tags printed on theproduct item's label or packaging. As the manufacturer aggregatesindividual product items into cases and higher-level containers, itsmanufacturing and shipping systems record the container hierarchy. Thisallows the contents of a container to be tracked by simply tracking thecontainer.

When a retailer receives a case, it is scanned into inventory at thereceiving dock. The scan event triggers the retailer's inventory systemto retrieve a description of the case content from the manufacturer. Theinventory system uses the case EPC to first identify, via the ONS, theserver responsible for serving information about that EPC. It thencontacts that server to identify the contents of the case, and iteratesthe entire process for the case content, down to the item level. Inorder to satisfy the inventory system's queries, the manufacturer'sserver extracts information from the manufacturer's private databasesand translates this information into standard PML.

When an item is sold, the point-of-sale EPC scan event triggers theinventory system to record the item as sold, and may also trigger thesystem to notify the item's manufacturer of the circumstances of thesale. This can provide the manufacturer with timely information aboutthe effect of a promotional campaign, particularly when the campaign islot-specific and involves campaign-specific product graphics. Again theEPC lookup uses the ONS, but this time the inventory system transmitsthe sale event information to the manufacturer's server as PML.

The EPC-driven architecture of the integrated supply chain isindependent of whether EPC scan data originates from Hyperlabel™scanners, RFID readers, or a mixture of both.

8.2.3 Region Id Management

An unstructured identifier such as the region ID (page ID) may beassigned on demand through a multi-level assignment hierarchy with asingle root node. Lower-level assignors obtain blocks of IDs fromhigher-level assignors on demand. Unlike with structured ID assignment,these blocks correspond to arbitrary ranges (or even sets) of IDs,rather than to IDs with fixed prefixes. Again, each assignor in theassignment hierarchy ensures that blocks of IDs and individual IDs areassigned uniquely. The region ID subsequently becomes a database key toinformation about the region. In the netpage system, this informationincludes a full description of the graphical and interactive elementswhich appear in the region. Graphical elements include such things astext flows, text and images. Interactive elements include such things asbuttons, hyperlinks, checkboxes, drawing fields, text fields andsignature fields.

8.2.4 Product Interface Document Management

In the netpage system, the graphic and interactive elements of a netpageare described by a document 836, as illustrated in FIG. 25. A productmanufacturer therefore defines the graphic and interactive elements of aHyperlabel™ tagged product item by publishing a corresponding interfacedocument to the netpage system in much the usual way (i.e. as describedearlier). The manufacturing application (i.e. publisher) first obtains adocument ID 51 for the interface document from an ID server 12. It thensends the document structure, including its document ID and pagedescriptions, to the page server 10 responsible for the document's newlyallocated ID.

Even if the graphic elements of a product label are printed bytraditional non-digital means (e.g. offset or flexographic), it is stillbeneficial to include the graphic elements in the netpage document 836,since this facilitates logical operations on otherwise passive labelcontent, such as copy and paste, and searching on a combination of labelcontent and annotations.

As described earlier, the preferred form of the region ID 50 of aHyperlabel™ tag 202 contains the corresponding item ID 215. When themanufacturer allocates an item ID to a product item at time ofmanufacture, the item ID is registered as a page ID with the page serverresponsible for the corresponding document 836. The page server recordsthe page ID as part of a page instance 830. The item ID is alsoregistered as a page ID with a netpage ID server to facilitatesubsequent lookup of the corresponding page server.

The document 836 typically describes the label or packaging of a class236 of product items. Publication of the document, down to the level ofthe formatted document 834, may therefore be decoupled from the printingof individual product item labels. However, since the item ID 215 isstructured, the ID server and page server may also record a partial pageID based on an item ID 215 with a unspecified serial number 213 (i.e. aproduct ID 214). When a netpage user interacts with an individualproduct item, the relay function identifies the corresponding pageserver via the ID server based purely on the product item's product ID.If no page instance 830 exists which corresponds to the full item ID(i.e. page ID) then the page server creates a page instance againstwhich to record the interaction.

To address the situation where the label or packaging of a product class236 changes over time, the ID server may record a range of item IDsagainst a document ID (e.g. in the form of a product ID and a range ofserial numbers). The manufacturer may leave the end of the rangeunspecified until a label or packaging change actually occurs.

An individual item ID is already recorded by the product server 237which manages the product item. Therefore, as an alternative to usingthe netpage ID server to record and support the lookup of the netpagepage server associated with an item ID, the page server can instead beregistered with the product server in much the same way.

Rather than publish an interface document to a netpage page server, theproduct server may instead allow the page server to retrieve theinterface document from the product server on demand. The product serveris then responsible for recording relationships between ranges of itemIDs and particular interface descriptions, as shown in FIG. 98. Asdescribed earlier, the page server may use a standard name servicelookup mechanism to resolve an item ID into a network address of acorresponding product server.

FIG. 99 shows a typical interaction between a netpage pen 101 and a Webserver in this scenario. The pen 101 captures an item ID and digital inkvia a product surface. It forwards this to the netpage pen serverassociated with the pen. The pen server uses the item ID to look up theaddress of the item ID's product server via a name server (or hierarchyof name servers). The pen server then retrieves the product's interfacedescription from the identified product server, and uses the interfacedescription to interpret the user's digital ink input in the usual way.This may ultimately result in the submission of a form to, and/or theretrieval of a Web page from a Web server identified by a URI associatedwith a form or hyperlink in the interface description. Again thisinvolves the resolution of a server address for the Web server using aname server, which is not shown in the figure. The pen server may thendisplay the Web page on a Web terminal associated with the netpage pen.For example, the relay device (e.g. PC, mobile phone or PDA) throughwhich the pen is communicating with the pen server may act as a Webterminal by running a Web browser. The user may continue to interactwith the Web page directly through the Web browser. Note that in thisscenario the page server has been replaced by a pen server. Where thepage server provides persistent storage of digital ink associated withparticular pages, the pen server provides persistent storage of digitalink associated with particular users' pens. In both cases thepersistence is provided at least until the form to which the digital inkapplies is submitted. Note that the pen server may be a shared networkserver which serves many users, or may be a private server whichexecutes on the pen user's relay device (e.g. PC, mobile telephone orPDA). In the limit case it may execute in the pen itself.

In the example described above, when the pen server uses the item ID tolook up the address of the item ID's product server, this can beachieved by resolving the item ID to a product server address on thebasis of any or all of the manufacturer number 211, the product classnumber 212, and the serial number 213.

It will also be appreciated that the Web server scenario described aboveis only one example of the general interaction between a pen, a penserver, a name server, a product server and an application, which inthis case is a Web server.

It will also be appreciated that the interaction between a pen andapplication shown in FIG. 42, between the pen 101 (via the printer orother relay shown in the figure), a page server 10 a, and an application71, if the manufacturer lodges interface descriptions with a pageserver, rather than providing interface descriptions directly on demandto a pen server.

8.3 Hyperlabel™ Tag Printing

A Hyperlabel™ printer is a digital printer which prints Hyperlabel™ tagsonto the label, packaging or actual surface of a product before, duringor after product manufacture and/or assembly. It is a special case of anetpage printer 601. It is capable of printing a continuous pattern ofHyperiabel™ tags onto a surface, typically using anear-infrared-absorptive ink. In high-speed environments, the printerincludes hardware which accelerates tag rendering. This typicallyincludes real-time Reed-Solomon encoding of variable tag data such astag position, and real-time template-based rendering of the actual tagpattern at the dot resolution of the printhead.

The printer may be an add-on infrared printer which prints theHyperlabel™ tags after text and graphics have been printed by othermeans, or an integrated color and infrared printer which prints theHyperlabel™ tags, text and graphics simultaneously. Digitally-printedtext and graphics may include everything on the label or packaging, ormay consist only of the variable portions, with other portions stillprinted by other means. Thus a Hyperlabel™ tag printer with an infraredand black printing capability can displace an existing digital printerused for variable data printing, such as a conventional thermal transferor inkjet printer.

For the purposes of the following discussion, any reference to printingonto an item label is intended to include printing onto the itempackaging in general, or directly onto the item surface. Furthermore,any reference to an item ID 215 is intended to include a region ID 50(or collection of per-panel region IDs), or a component thereof.

The printer is typically controlled by a host computer, which suppliesthe printer with fixed and/or variable text and graphics as well as itemIDs for inclusion in the Hyperlabel™ tags. The host may providereal-time control over the printer, whereby it provides the printer withdata in real time as printing proceeds. As an optimisation, the host mayprovide the printer with fixed data before printing begins, and onlyprovide variable data in real time. The printer may also be capable ofgenerating per-item variable data based on parameters provided by thehost. For example, the host may provide the printer with a base item IDprior to printing, and the printer may simply increment the base item IDto generate successive item IDs. Alternatively, memory in the inkcartridge or other storage medium inserted into the printer may providea source of unique item IDs, in which case the printer reports theassignment of items IDs to the host computer for recording by the host.

Alternatively still, the printer may be capable of reading apre-existing item ID from the label onto which the Hyperlabel™ tags arebeing printed, assuming the unique ID has been applied in some form tothe label during a previous manufacturing step. For example, the item IDmay already be present in the form of a visible 2D bar code, or encodedin an RFID tag. In the former case the printer can include an opticalbar code scanner, examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,340,973, or 5,126,544. In the latter case it can include an RFIDreader, such as the reader described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,159, or suchas a Commander 320 13.56 MHz RFID reader, manufactured by TexasInstruments of Dallas, Tex.

The printer may also be capable of rendering the item ID in other forms.For example, it may be capable of printing the item ID in the form of a2D bar code, or of printing the product ID component of the item ID inthe form of a ID bar code, or of writing the item ID to a writable orwrite-once RFID tag, for example by using the Commander 320 13.56 MHzRFID reader, manufactured by Texas Instruments of Dallas, Tex., asdescribed above.

An example of this is shown in FIG. 110. In this example, a tag or labelprinter 6200 is shown with an add-on Hyperlabel™ tag printer shown at6201. In use, an object 6202 to be printed, such as a product item,packaging, or the like, is transferred through a printing region on aconveyor 6203. In use, the printer 6200 will operate in the normal wayto provide visible markings on the packaging, labelling or the like. Thevisible markings may correspond to product information, the name of theproduct, or the like, as well as identifiers such as bar codes.

The printer 6201 either before or after the visible markings areprovided, operates to print coded data as described above. The codeddata tags may be printed over an entire label or packaging, in whichcase the article is typically provided as a flat pack box oralternatively may be printed on one or more faces depending on therespective implementation.

In any event, in use the Hyperlabel™ tag printer 6201 generates thecoded data such that it is indicative of a unique product itemidentifier such as an EPC. This can be achieved in a number of waysdepending the respective implementation as shown for example in FIGS.111, 112, 113.

In particular, in a first example shown in FIG. 111, the EPC isgenerated by an authority such as EPC Global (as described in 8.2.1).The EPC is provided to the manufacturing server 259, typically as partof a batch, and then allocated to the printer 6200 and the printer 6201as required. Thus, for example, the printer 6200 can generate a 2D barcode representative of the EPC, which is printed in visible ink, withthe Hyperlabel™ tag printer 6201 printing coded data which encodes theEPC. The bar code would typically be generated in accordance with astandard symbology, as described above.

At some time during this process, the link between the EPC and itscorresponding interface surface may be recorded at a product server 251as shown.

In a second example as shown in FIG. 112, the EPC is only transferred tothe printer 6200, which prints the 2D bar code on the product item 6202.In this case, the netpage printer 6201 also includes a bar code reader6203 which operates to read the two-dimensional 2D bar code anddetermine the EPC therefrom. The EPC is then used to generate the codeddata which is applied to the product item 6202, in the normal way.(Again an indication of the page interface description is provided tothe product server 251.) It should also be noted that the netpageprinter 6201 and the product item 6202 may be separated in space andtime.

As a further alternative, the netpage printer 6201 can be adapted togenerate an EPC based for example on a predetermined manufacturernumber, assigned to the manufacturer, a product class number, and aserial number. In this case, having printed the Hyperlabel™ tags, anindication of the EPC is also transferred to the printer 6200 whichprints a 2D bar code on the box.

It will be appreciated that equivalent functionality can be provided inconjunction with an RFID tag instead of a 2D bar code. Thus for example,an RFID tag writing device, such as the Commander 320 13.56 MHz RFIDreader/writer, manufactured by Texas Instruments of Dallas, Tex., may beused to encode the EPC in an RFID tag which is then subsequently read bythe printing device to determine the EPC.

As a further alternative, it is possible to provide a printing device inthe form of a printer 6201 which is also enabled to encode one or moreof RFID tags and 2D bar codes. It will be appreciated that in the caseof encoding 2D bar codes, the printer 6201 will also be adapted to printvisible markings as well as infrared markings and in particular 2D barcodes. Similarly, the device may alternatively or additionally beprovided with a RFID tag writing device for encoding RF-ID tags.

8.4 Hyperlabel™ Scanning

Item information typically flows to the product server in response tosituated scan events, e.g. when an item is scanned into inventory ondelivery; when the item is placed on a retail shelf; and when the itemis scanned at point of sale. Both fixed and hand-held scanners may beused to sca Hyperlabel™ tagged product items, using both laser-based 2Dscanning and 2D image-sensor-based scanning, using similar or the sametechniques as employed in the netpage pen.

As shown in FIG. 57, both a fixed scanner 254 and a hand-held scanner252 can communicate scan data to the product server 251. The productserver may in turn communicate product item event data to a peer productserver (not shown), or to a product application server 250, which mayimplement sharing of data with related product servers. For example,stock movements within a retail store may be recorded locally on theretail store's product server, but the manufacturer's product server maybe notified once a product item is sold.

8.4.1 Hand Based Scanners

A number of designs of a hand based scanners Hyperlabel™ scanner 252will now be described Hyperlabel™ scanner.

8.4.1.1 Hand-Held Hyperlabel™ Optical Reader

FIG. 58, FIG. 59, FIG. 60 and FIG. 61 show a first embodiment of aHyperlabel™ scanner 4000. The scanner is designed to image and decodeHyperlabel™ tags when its tip 4003 is brought into close proximity orcontact with a Hyperlabel™ tagged surface. The scanner can be operatedin free mode, in which it continuously and automatically scans tagswithin its field of view; or in triggered mode, in which it only scanstags when its trigger 4008 is held depressed. Although the scanner isdesigned with a limited depth of field, thus reducing the likelihood ofunintentional scans in free mode, triggered mode can be used to avoidunintentional scans. The trigger may also be configured to be manuallyoperated (as shown), or configured to be automatically activated whenthe scanner makes contact with the surface. Because an individualproduct item is tagged with a unique item ID, there is no possibility ofduplicate scans.

During normal operation the scanner returns the item ID encoded in aHyperlabel™ tag, but ignores the position 86. The scanner distinguishesbetween Hyperlabel™ tags, which encode item IDs, and general netpagetags, which do not.

The scanner is a general-purpose Hyperlabel™ scanner suitable forshelf-stock scanning, point-of-sale scanning, and returns processing.Although not shown in the figures, the Hyperlabel™ scanner may usefullyincorporate a conventional laser-based bar code scanner for backwardscompatibility with linear bar codes. Alternatively or additionally, thescanner may be programmed to support scanning of extant linear and/ortwo-dimensional symbologies via its two-dimensional image sensor.

The scanner as shown is designed for tethered operation, wherein itobtains DC power from an external supply via a cable 2504, and transmitsdecoded scan data to an external processor via the same cable 2504. Thescanner may be connected to a relay 253 which simply relays the scandata to a point-of-sale system or other processing system via wired orwireless communications, or the scanner may be directly connected to theprocessing system.

Alternative versions of the scanner incorporate a replaceable orrechargeable battery to allow untethered operation; a wirelesscommunication capability such as IrDA, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15 (e.g.ZigBee) or IEEE 802.11 to allow untethered data transmission; and/orexternal contacts designed to mate with a tethered pod to allow in-podbattery charging and/or data transmission.

During a single period of proximity or contact with a tagged surface,the scanner may successfully perform tens or even hundreds of scans.Although even a single scan may be performed reliably based on built-inerror correction in the Hyperlabel™ tag, multiple scans can be used tofurther ensure reliability.

The scanner can indicate a correct (and possibly unique) scan byflashing its status LED 2426 and/or by producing an audible “beep”. Thebeep may be generated by the control unit to which the scanner isattached or by the scanner itself. It is useful if the status LED isflashed on a successful scan but the beep is only produced on a uniquescan (as identified by the control unit).

As shown in FIG. 58 through FIG. 62, the scanner consists of a nosemolding 4002 and two grip moldings 4004 and 4006. The grip moldings matetogether to hold the nose molding in place and to form the grip.Although shown with screw fasteners, the grip moldings may alternativelyincorporate snap fasteners. The nose molding incorporates an aperture,directly below the tip 4003, to accommodate the imaging field-of-viewcone 2100 and illumination field cones 2102. Further apertures in thegrip accommodate the status LED window 4010, the trigger 4008, and thecable 2504.

As shown in FIGS. 59 and 62, the two near-infrared illumination LEDs2414 are disposed symmetrically about the imaging field-of-view cone2100 to provide a uniform illumination field across a range of tiltangles.

The optical assembly consists of a near-infrared filter 2104, anaperture disc 2106 incorporating a pin-hole aperture of between 0.5 mmand 1 mm in diameter, a focussing lens 2108, and a CMOS image sensor2412. To ensure accurate Hyperlabel™ tag acquisition across a range oftilt angles and relative scanner-to-Hyperlabel™ tag registrations, theimage sensor has a pixel array size of at least 128 by 128. The smallaperture and the large ratio of viewing distance to nominalfield-of-view diameter (i.e. in excess of 5:1) yields adequatedepth-of-field for reliable operation across a tilt range (i.e.combination of pitch and roll) of plus 45 degrees to minus 45 degrees,as well as contact-less tag acquisition. The optical magnification isdictated by the image sensor's pixel size and the required sampling rateof between 2:1 and 3:1 with respect to the worst-case (i.e.tilt-induced) pitch of the macrodots in the tag. The focussing lens ischosen to provide the required magnification while minimising overallspace requirements. The near-infrared filter 2104 may be of longpasstype or narrow bandpass type, depending on the required performance ofthe scanner with respect to ambient light levels, and thecharacteristics of the ink used to print the tags. If the scanner isrequired to perform in direct sunlight, then a narrow bandpass filter ispreferred. If the ink is narrowband, then a matching narrowband filteris also preferred.

FIG. 63 and FIG. 64 show close-up and exploded views of the opticsrespectively.

The image sensor is usefully of freeze-frame type rather thanrolling-shutter type to avoid skew between successive scan lines. Asuitable image sensor design is described in the present applicants'co-pending Australian Patent Application entitled “Methods and Systems(NPS041)” (docket number NPS041), filed 17 Feb. 2003. Suitablefreeze-frame image sensors are also available commercially from Micron,Texas Instruments and National Semiconductor.

FIG. 62 shows the image sensor 2412 attached via a flexible PCB 2502 tothe main PCB 2500. The main PCB as shown holds an image processor 2410,controller 2400 and communications interface 2424. FIG. 12 acorresponding block diagram of the electronics.

The image processor 2410 is closely coupled with the image sensor 2412.A suitable design of the image processor is described the co-pendingapplication (NPS041) identified above. As described in the co-pendingapplication, the image sensor and image processor are designed toimplemented together in the same chip, to minimise requirements forhigh-speed external interfacing. The image processor supports rapidreadout of images from the image sensor into the image processor'sinternal memory, followed by relatively slower readout from the imageprocessor's internal memory to the external controller. The imageprocessor also provides low-level image processing functions to assistthe controller with image processing and further reduce the data rate tothe controller. The image processor also controls the timing of theimage sensor and the synchronisation of image acquisition with thestrobing of the illumination LEDs 2414.

In a typical configuration, image acquisition occurs at a rate ofbetween 50 and 150 frames per second. The exposure time of the imagesensor may be as low as 200 microseconds to allow accurate scanning evenduring significant relative motion between the scanner and the taggedsurface.

The image readout time of the image sensor is typically a couple ofmilliseconds, which is only a fifth of the frame period at 100 framesper second. Thus the controller has ample time to process the acquiredimage in the image processor's internal memory. The image processor'smemory may be double-buffered to allow the controller to utilise thefull frame period for image processing.

As shown in FIG. 69, the image processor is designed to interface withthe controller via a high-speed serial interface 2312. One example ofsuch an interface is the high-speed synchronous serial interfaceprovided on Atmel controllers.

The controller 2400 includes a processor 2300 which runs software toperform a number of tasks. These tasks include overall control of thescanner; real-time decoding of images of Hyperlabel™ tags acquired andpre-processed by the image sensor 2412 and image processor 2410; andencoding and transmission of scan data to the external control unit viathe communications interface 2424 (or alternatively via the basebandcontroller 2416 and radio transceiver 2418). Image processing anddecoding are described in detail in the co-pending application (NPS041)identified above, as well as in the main body of this specification.

The controller incorporates a high-speed working memory 2302 (such as astatic RAM) for program data and for program code which is executing. Italso incorporates a non-volatile program memory 2304 which stores theprogram code, and which may be used to persistently (and hence securely)store scan data awaiting transmission. The controller may incorporate aDMA controller 2306 for optimising the transfer of data between workingmemory and the high-speed serial interface. The controller's componentsare interconnected via a shared control, address and data bus 2308.

The processor senses depression of the scan switch 2428 via ageneral-purpose parallel input on the parallel interface 2312. Itcontrols the status LED(s) 2426 via outputs on the same parallelinterface. The controller 2400 may optionally include a programmablepulse width modulator (PWM) for driving the status LEDs.

When configured for wireless operation, the real-time clock 2420provides the basis for timestamping scan data when operating off-line.The power manager 2422 manages power utilisation and controls batterycharging. Both are controlled via the serial interface 2310.

The Hyperlabel™ scanner can be further augmented with a monochrome orcolor display to allow the operator to obtain product information basedon scan data. This may include product-specific information such asdescriptive information, and item-specific information such asmanufacturing and use-by dates.

When the user of the scanner is a customer operating in self-checkoutmode, the display can assist the customer in adding items to andremoving items from their shopping cart. This may work in conjunctionwith a mode switch incorporated in the scanner which allows the customerto switch the scanner between the “add” mode and the “remove” mode priorto scanning an individual item. The mode can also be signalled moreeconomically via one or more mode-indicating LEDs.

When operating in self-checkout mode, the customer may provide anidentity token, such as a magnetic stripe or smartcard-based paymentcard or RFID token, which allows the customer to be associated with thescanner for the duration of the shopping excursion. The reader for theidentity token may usefully be incorporated in the scanner. If theidentity token is a payment card, then payment can also be completedthrough the scanner.

8.4.1.2 Handheld Hyperlabel™ Laser Scanner

FIGS. 72, 73 and 74 show a second embodiment of a Hyperlabel™ scanner4000. FIGS. 72 and 73 use similar reference numerals to FIGS. 58 and 59to denote similar elements. In this example, the optical assembly shownin FIG. 59 is replaced with a laser based scanning system, an example ofwhich is shown in FIG. 74.

As shown in FIG. 74, a scan beam 4540 is produced by a laser 4502. Thelaser produces a narrowband near-infrared beam matched to the peakwavelength of the near-infrared ink used to print the Hyperlabel™ tags.An optional amplitude modulator 4503 allows the amplitude of the beam tobe modulated, e.g. for ambient light suppression or ranging purposes asdiscussed below. An optional beam expander 4504 allows the beam to bereduced to produce the desired spot size. The laser is typically asolid-state laser.

A pair of mirrors 4506 and 4507 injects the scan beam into line with theretroreflective collection system, as described further below.

An optional focussing lens 4508 focusses the beam prior to steering. Afirst deflector 4510 provides horizontal deflection of the beam within ascan line of the patch. A second deflector 4511 provides verticaldeflection of the beam between scan lines of the patch.

The maximum pixel sampling rate of the patch is usefully derived fromthe maximum operating frequency of commercially-available horizontaldeflectors. There are a number of available alternatives, includingacousto-optic deflectors and resonant scanners. A practical upper limiton the operating frequency of these devices is about 500 KHz, and thisis taken as the scan line rate for the purposes of the followingdescription.

Given a patch width of 150 pixels, the pixel rate of the scanner istherefore 75 MHz and the pixel time is 13 nanoseconds. The scan linetime is 2 microseconds, but to achieve line separation the actual scanline rate is 250 KHz rather than 500 KHz. The minimum patch time istherefore 600 microseconds and the maximum patch rate is 1.6 KHz.

The vertical deflector 4511 is only required to operate at the maximumpatch rate of 1.6 KHz. Again there are a number of availablealternatives, including acousto-optic deflectors, resonant scanners,rotating polygon mirrors, galvanometers and piezoelectrically-actuatedplatforms.

The two deflectors 4510 and 4511 are driven by synchronised drivers 4512and 4513 respectively, each incorporating scan generation, amplificationetc.

The angle of the output beam of the horizontal and vertical deflectors4510 and 4511 is transformed into a spatial offset within the patch byan angle-to-displacement transform lens 4516. This has the benefit thatthe bundle of (time-displaced) scan beams which make up the patch beamis collimated, thus the sampling frequency of the patch is unaffected bydistance to the tagged surface.

The patch beam is focussed and its focal plane is flattened by afocussing and field-flattening lens 4526.

During the “exposure” time of a single pixel the scan beam spoteffectively rests at a single point on the product item 201.

As shown in FIG. 75, the scanner's light collection system isretroreflective, significantly increasing the scanner's signal-to-noiseratio. As shown in the figure, divergent rays 4546 and 4548, diffuselyreflected where the scan beam strikes the surface of the tagged productitem, converge through the transform lens 4516, follow the reverse pathof the scan beam through the deflectors 4511 and 4510 to emerge centeredon the scan beam, are largely unaffected by the focussing lens 4508,largely bypass the mirror 4507, and are finally focussed by a collectinglens 4530 onto a photodetector 4536. An optional near-infrared filter4532 further helps reject of ambient light. The photodetector is of anysuitable type, such as a solid-state photodiode or a photomultipliertube.

The signal from the photodetector 4536 is amplified by amplifier 4536and is converted to a digital value by analog-to-digital converter (ADC)4538. The ADC operates at the scanner's pixel rate, i.e. 100 MHz. TheADC is synchronised with the horizontal deflector driver 4512.

In use, the photodetector circuit can be modulated in accordance withthe modulation of the laser, as achieved by the amplitude modulator4503, to thereby assist with the suppression of ambient light.

In particular, during an integration (or “exposure”) period, thephotodetector 4536 produces a photocurrent which is proportional to theintensity of light incident upon the photodetector. When the controlledlight source, in this case, the scanning beam 4540 is off, the lightincident upon the photodetector will primarily be ambient light. Whenthe scanning beam is on, the light incident upon the photodetector 4536will be formed from light reflected from the product item, and theambient light.

Accordingly, the photodectector system can be adapted to operate in twophases in accordance with the modulation of the scanning beam 4540.During a first phase, when the scanning beam 4540 is off, thephotodetector circuit is adapted to detect the incident light and fromthis determine and effectively memorise the ambient light level.

In the second phase when the scanning beam is activated, thephotocurrent in the photodetector 4536 increases in proportion to thelight incident thereon, based on the reflected radiation and the ambientlight. This “total light signal” is corrected by effectively subtractingthe memorised ambient light level signal, to generate a “differencesignal”, which is indicative of the reflected scanning beam only. Thisallows the effects of ambient light to be reduced.

This process and a photodetector circuit suitable for performing suchoperation are described in the co-pending PCT Publication No. WO03/044814 entitled “Active Pixel Sensor” filed 22 Nov. 2002, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by cross-reference.

The electronics of the scanner will be similar to those of FIG. 69.

8.4.1.3 Hyperlabel™ Pen

FIG. 65, FIG. 66 and FIG. 69 show a preferred embodiment of aHyperlabel™ pen 3000. The pen is designed to image and decodeHyperlabel™ tags when its nib 3006 is brought into close proximity orcontact with a Hyperlabel™ tagged surface. The pen can be operated in“hover” mode, in which it continuously and automatically scans tagswithin its field of view; or in contact mode, in which it only scanstags after a “pen down” event, i.e. when its nib switch 2428 is engagedand/or its nib force sensor 2430 registers a threshold force. Hover modeis useful when the pen is used to drive a cursor on a display screen. Itis less useful when interaction is exclusively paper-based.

During normal operation the pen decodes a succession of tag positions86, refines these positions according to the position and orientation ofeach tag within the field of view, and thereby generates a succession ofnib positions representative of the pen's motion with respect to thetagged surface. As shown in FIG. 33 the pen thus generates a successionof strokes referred to collectively as digital ink, each strokedelimited by a pen down and a pen up event. Each stroke identifies theIDs of the one or more pages or regions within which the stroke wascaptured.

The pen incorporates a marking nib and ink cartridge 3006, allowing theuser to write on a tagged page while simultaneously generating digitalink. The cartridge is replaceable, and a non-marking “stylus” cartridgemay be substituted for non-marking operation.

The pen as shown is designed for tethered operation, wherein it obtainsDC power from an external supply via a cable 2504, and transmits digitalink to an external processor via the same cable 2504. The pen may beconnected to a relay device 44 which simply relays the digital ink to aremote processing system (e.g. page server) via wired or wirelesscommunications, or the pen may be directly connected to the processingsystem.

Alternative versions of the pen incorporate a replaceable orrechargeable battery to allow untethered operation; a wirelesscommunication capability such as IrDA, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15 (e.g.ZigBee) or IEEE 802.11 to allow untethered data transmission; and/orexternal contacts designed to mate with a tethered pod to allow in-podbattery charging and/or data transmission.

As shown in FIG. 65 through FIG. 67, the pen consists of a base molding3002 and a cover molding 3004. The moldings mate together to form thepen body. Although shown with screw fasteners, the moldings mayalternatively incorporate snap fasteners. The base molding incorporatesan aperture, directly above the nib 3006, to accommodate the imagingfield-of-view cone 2100 and illumination field cones 2102. Furtherapertures in the body accommodate the status LED window 3014, resetswitch 3016, and the cable 2504.

The Hyperlabel™ pen 3000 and the hand-held Hyperlabel™ scanner 4000 aredesigned to share the same optics and electronics. The followingdescription therefore focusses on those areas where the pen differs fromthe scanner.

As shown in FIG. 66, the pen incorporates a force sensor 2430 coupled tothe ink cartridge 3006. A housing 3008 contains a pliable sleeve 3010designed to grip the removable cartridge 3006 and push against anelement 3012 which couples it with the force sensor 2430. The forcesensor may usefully be of resistive, piezo-resistive, orpiezo-capacitive type.

FIG. 68 shows the optics and PCB in a linear arrangement suited to thepen, in contrast with the folded arrangement suited to the scanner, asshown in FIG. 5.

As shown in the block diagram of the electronics illustrated in FIG. 12,the controller's ADC 2314 converts the analog signal from the pen'snib-coupled force sensor 2430. The pen optionally incorporates a nibswitch 2428, placed in line with the force sensor 2430 to provide apower-efficient and reliable pen-down signal, as well as a basis forforce sensor offset calibration. The force signal is included in thedigital ink generated by the pen. It may be used in variousapplication-specific ways, including to modulate the thickness ofstrokes rendered to match the physical strokes produced by the markingnib.

It will be appreciated that the pen 3000 described above is analternative embodiment of the netpage pen 101. The pen 3000 and netpagepen 101 may be used interchangably, and will therefore be referred togenerally as netpage pens.

8.4.1.4 Glove Scanner

FIG. 70 shows a preferred embodiment of a “glove” Hyperlabel™ scanner5000. The glove scanner is designed to image and decode Hyperlabel™ tagswhen its “thimble” imaging unit 5008 is brought into close proximity orcontact with a Hyperlabel™ tagged surface. The scanner can be operatedin free mode, in which it continuously and automatically scans tagswithin its field of view; or in triggered mode, in which it only scanstags when its trigger is held depressed. Although the scanner isdesigned with a very limited depth of field, thus reducing thelikelihood of unintentional scans in free mode, triggered mode can beused to avoid unintentional scans. Because an individual product item istagged with a unique item ID, there is no possibility of duplicatescans.

The glove scanner is a general-purpose Hyperlabel™ scanner particularlysuited to automatic scanning of stock during handling, such as duringshelf replenishment. Unlike other glove-mounted bar code scanners whichimage in a direction parallel to the outstretched finger, theHyperlabel™ glove scanner images in a direction normal to the undersideof the grasping finger. This mode of operation is made possible by thesmallness of the field of view required to acquire a Hyperlabel™ tag,i.e. of the order of 5 mm.

In the glove scanner 5000, the viewing distance is shortened relative tothe viewing distance in the hand-held scanner 4000 and netpage pen 3000.This allows the imaging unit 5008 to be compact, but reduces the depthof field. This is not a problem, however, since the imaging unit isdesigned to be used when close to and parallel to a tagged surface.

The imaging unit 5008 contains the same optical components as thehand-held scanner, including the near-infrared illumination LEDs 2414.In addition, it incorporates a 30-60-90 prism 5012 which folds theimaging cone (to line it up with the image sensor mounted almostnormally to the surface 5014) and increases the viewing distance. Sincethe thimble is less susceptible to ambient light than the hand-heldscanner, the near-infrared filter 2104 is optional.

The imaging unit also incorporates the trigger switch (not shown) whichregisters contact with a tagged surface. Alternatively or additionally,the trigger switch may be placed between thumb and forefinger for manualactivation.

The imaging unit incorporates both the image sensor 2412 and the imageprocessor 2410, which are usefully combined into a single compact chipas described in the co-pending U.S. applications U.S. Ser. No.10/778,056 entitled “Image Sensor with Digital Frame Store”, U.S. Ser.No. 10/778,058 entitled “Image Sensor with Low-Pass Filter”, U.S. Ser.No. 10/778,060 entitled “Image Sensor with Range Expender”, U.S. Ser.No. 10/778,059 entitled “Pixel Sensor”, U.S. Ser. No. 10/778,063entitled “Image Sensor for Timing Circuit”, U.S. Ser. No. 10/778,062entitled “Image Processor with Low Power Mode”, U.S. Ser. No. 10/778,061entitled “Image Processor”, U.S. Ser. No. 10/778,057 entitled“Synchronization Protocol”, all filed 17 Feb. 2004.

The imaging unit 5008 is connected to the processing unit 5006 via apower and high-speed data cable 5010. The remainder of the scannerelectronics are incorporated in the processing unit, including theprocessor 2400 and communications interface 2424. The processing unit isconnected to an external control unit via a power and data cable 2504 inthe usual way.

Both the imaging unit 5008 and the processing unit 5006 are attached toa harness 5004, constructed from elastic material, which is worn like aglove.

8.4.2.1 Fixed Hyperlabel™ Laser Scanner

A first example of a design of a fixed Hyperlabel™ laser scanner 254will now be described.

FIG. 76 shows the central unit 1501 of a preferred embodiment of a fixedHyperlabel™ laser scanner 1500 suitable for incorporation in a retailcheckout 1000.

To accommodate as large a proportion as possible of the full range ofproduct items which may need to be scanned, the Hyperlabel™ scanner 1500is designed to accurately scan any item which fits on the 500 mm wideconveyor 1014 of the checkout 1000. It is configured to automaticallyscan a single item at a time as it passes by on the conveyor at a speedof up to 500 mm/s. It may scan three sides and the tops of items fromboth sides of the conveyor, up to an item height of 500 mm, thusproviding a five-sided scanning function.

The scanner is typically able to scan product items ranging across thefull size range, e.g. ranging from packets of corn flakes to packets ofchewing gum, as well as partially labelled items such as glass bottles,jars and shrink-wrapped produce.

If the scanner acquires two different item IDs simultaneously then itflags an error to the operator and stops the conveyor, therebypreventing accidental or deliberate (and therefore fraudulent) occlusionof an item by other items. The operator must then move the offendingitems to the input side of the conveyor and restart the conveyor.

The uniqueness of the item ID prevents any item from being recorded as asale more than once.

The scanner detects the transit of an object on the conveyor. If itdetects the transit of an object which fails to scan, then it flags anerror and stops the conveyor. The operator may then move the offendingitem to the input side of the conveyor and restart the conveyor, or scanthe item manually, e.g. using the hand-held Hyperlabel™ scanner 4000.

Hyperlabel™ tagging covers a large proportion of the surface of aproduct item. The basic Hyperlabel™ scanning strategy therefore consistsof sparsely sampling the scan volume. This basic strategy may then berefined to improve scan accuracy and/or scan efficiency.

The acquisition of a two-dimensional Hyperlabel™ tag requires thescanning of a spatially coherent two-dimensional “patch” large enough tobe guaranteed to contain at least one entire tag. This contrasts withthe acquisition of a one-dimensional bar code, which only requires thescanning of a spatially coherent line. There is therefore a fundamentalrequirement to provide two levels of beam steering, where the firstlevel provides the two-dimensional scan of the beam within a patch, andthe second level provides the two- or three-dimensional scan of thepatch within the scan volume. For the purposes of the followingdiscussion the second level of beam steering is taken to apply to a“patch beam”.

As described earlier in this specification, a Hyperlabel™ tag has amaximum feature period of about 150 microns. Assuming a sampling rate oftwo and a minimum inclination between a tagged surface and the scan beamof 45 degrees, a sampling spot period of 50 microns and a sampling spotsize of between 50 and 100 microns is required, depending on beamcross-section. At a sampling rate of two, the required circular field ofview has an image-space diameter of about 150 pixels. This in turndetermines the dimensions of the patch, i.e. 150 by 150 pixels.

As shown in FIG. 76, a scan beam 1540 is produced by a laser 1502. Thelaser produces a narrowband near-infrared beam matched to the peakwavelength of the near-infrared ink used to print the Hyperlabel™ tags.An optional amplitude modulator 1503 allows the amplitude of the beam tobe modulated, e.g. for ranging purposes as discussed below. An optionalbeam expander 1504 allows the beam to be reduced to produce the desiredspot size. The laser may be a solid-state or gas laser such as HeNelaser.

A pair of mirrors 1506 and 1507 injects the scan beam into line with theretroreflective collection system, as described further below.

An optional focussing lens 1508 focusses the beam prior to steering. Afirst deflector provides horizontal deflection of the beam within a scanline of the patch. A second deflector 1511 provides vertical deflectionof the beam between scan lines of the patch.

The maximum pixel sampling rate of the patch is usefully derived fromthe maximum operating frequency of commercially-available horizontaldeflectors. There are a number of available alternatives, includingacousto-optic deflectors, resonant scanners and rotating polygonmirrors. A practical upper limit on the operating frequency of thesedevices is about 500 KHz, and this is taken as the scan line rate forthe purposes of the following description.

Given a patch width of 150 pixels, the pixel rate of the scanner istherefore 75 MHz and the pixel time is 13 nanoseconds. The scan linetime is 2 microseconds, but to achieve line separation the actual scanline rate is 250 KHz rather than 500 KHz. The minimum patch time istherefore 600 microseconds and the maximum patch rate is 1.6 KHz.

The vertical deflector 1511 is only required to operate at the maximumpatch rate of 1.6 KHz. Again there are a number of availablealternatives, including acousto-optic deflectors, resonant scanners,rotating polygon mirrors, galvanometers and piezoelectrically-actuatedplatforms.

The two deflectors 1510 and 1511 are driven by synchronised drivers 1512and 1513 respectively, each incorporating scan generation, amplificationetc.

The angle of the output beam of the horizontal and vertical deflectors1510 and 1511 is transformed into a spatial offset within the patch byan angle-to-displacement transform lens 1516. This has the benefit thatthe bundle of (time-displaced) scan beams which make up the patch beamis collimated, thus the sampling frequency of the patch is unaffected bydistance to the tagged surface.

The patch beam is steered by a mirror 1520 attached to a piezoelectrictip-tilt platform 1518. Fine steering control within the scan volume isachieved by steering the patch beam within the confines of a scan mirror1528, as illustrated in FIG. 77, FIG. 78 and FIG. 79. Gross steeringcontrol within the scan volume is achieved by steering the patch beambetween different scan mirrors 1528 a, 1528 b etc., as illustrated inFIG. 80, FIG. 82 and FIG. 84. Although FIG. 82 shows four scan mirrors1528 a, 1528 b etc. arranged vertically, and FIG. 84 shows three scanmirrors 1528 a, 1528 e and 1528 f arranged horizontally, there are inpractice any number of scan mirrors distributed both vertically andhorizontally within the scan posts to effect omnidirectional scanning.

A typical tip-tilt platform has a resonant frequency of about 1 KHz,i.e. an access time of about 1 millisecond. This results in an effectivepatch rate of about 600 Hz. Faster beam-steering solutions, such asacousto-optic deflectors, may be used to achieve patch beam steering atthe maximum patch rate.

As shown in FIG. 84, scan mirrors 1528 e and 1528 f, located at thesides of the scan posts 1022 and facing diagonally across the scanvolume between the scan posts, provide support for scanning the leadingand trailing side of a product item, i.e. just after the item enters thescan volume and just before the item leaves the scan volumerespectively.

The focus of the beam can be dynamically adjusted for the path lengthassociated with the selected scan mirror. The focus of the beam can bealtered by translating a lens element, e.g. within the beam expander1504, using a precision piezoelectric translation stage.

Depending on the characteristics of the beam produced by the laser 1502,and on the required spot size, the depth of field of the scan beam canbe increased by dividing the scan volume into two or more depth zonesand individually scanning patches in all zones with zone-specific beamfocus.

The deflector drivers 1512 and 1513 may modulate the pixel and line scanrate to accommodate patch distortion caused by the state of the tip-tiltplatform 1518.

The patch beam is focussed and its focal plane is flattened by afocussing and field-flattening lens 1526.

During the “exposure” time of a single pixel the scan beam spoteffectively rests at a single point on the product item 201. The speedof the conveyor induces a negligible skew. Even during the300-microsecond scan time of the entire patch, the object moves onlyabout 150 microns, i.e. about 3% of the patch size.

Although conveyor motion with respect to patch size is nominallyminimal, the motion may be irregular due to the imprecise nature of thecoupling between the motor and the conveyor. The scanner may thereforeinclude a motion sensor 1556 which senses the actual motion of theconveyor, and may use the resultant known motion of the conveyor tocorrect any motion-induced distortions in the sampled patch, such asinter-line skew.

As shown in FIG. 81, the scanner's light collection system isretroreflective, significantly increasing the scanner's signal-to-noiseratio. As shown in the figure, divergent rays 1546 and 1548, diffuselyreflected where the scan beam strikes the surface of the tagged productitem, converge through the transform lens 1516, follow the reverse pathof the scan beam through the deflectors 1511 and 1510 to emerge centeredon the scan beam, are largely unaffected by the focussing lens 1508,largely bypass the mirror 1507, and are finally focussed by a collectinglens 1530 onto a photodetector 1536. An optional near-infrared filter1532 further helps reject of ambient light. The photodetector is of anysuitable type, such as a solid-state photodiode or a photomultipliertube.

The signal from the photodetector is amplified by amplifier 1536 and isconverted to a digital value by analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 1538.The ADC operates at the scanner's pixel rate, i.e. 100 MHz. The ADC issynchronised with the horizontal deflector driver 1512.

FIG. 85 shows a block diagram of the electronics of the scanner,including an integrated scanner controller 1600. Where reference numbersin FIG. 85 match those described in FIG. 69, they refer to the same orsimilar components and functions.

The fixed Hyperlabel™ scanner 1500 utilises the same image processor2410 as the hand-held Hyperlabel™ scanner, and netpage pens described inFIGS. 8, 9, 65 and 58, here configured to directly capture the digitaloutput of the ADC 1538. The controller 1600 is a higher-performance butotherwise similar controller to the controller described in FIG. 69. Itdecodes Hyperlabel™ tags in real time and communicates the resultantscan data over the communications interface 2424 to the control unit orretail processing system to which the scanner is attached. It controlsthe conveyor motor 1560 via the conveyor motor driver 1558. It controlsthe scanning operation via the horizontal and vertical deflector drivers1512 and 1513, and the tip-tilt patch beam steering driver 1522. Duringrange finding it controls the amplitude of the laser beam via theamplitude modulator 1503.

As an alternative to the retroreflective collection system, or inaddition to it, one or more photodetectors with collection lenses andnear-infrared filters may be placed closer to the scan volume, i.e.within the scan posts 1022.

As shown in FIG. 82 and FIG. 83, the scanner's central unit 1501 isdesigned to be housed below the conveyor 1014, and to betime-multiplexed between the two scan posts 1022. An additional tip-tiltmirror 1550 is used to direct the scan beam to mirror 1552 associatedwith one or other scan post, and thence to mirror 1554 which directs thebeam up the corresponding scan post 1022 to mirrors 1528 a etc. toeffect the omnidirectional scan.

Rather than time-multiplexing a single scanner unit 1501, it is alsopossible to use two separate scanner units.

The scanner can be operated as a range finder by modulating a pulse ontothe scan beam 1540, using the amplitude modulator 1503, and preciselymeasuring the nanosecond-scale time-of-flight of the pulse to thephotodetector 1534.

Range finding can be used for two distinct purposes. It can be used todetect the presence or absence of an object in the scan volume, and itcan be used to determine the distance to the object surface, i.e. thedepth of the object surface with respect to the scanner. The known depthof object surface being scanned can be used on a per-patch basis tooptimise the focus of the beam and hence the scan spot size.

The scanner may also employ adaptive focus. If it succeeds in acquiringtag targets within a particular patch, but fails to successfully acquireand decode the tag data, then it may rescan the patch with a differentbeam focus.

The scanner may usefully operate in three modes. In the first“detection” mode the scan volume is nominally empty and the scanner isattempting to detect an object on the input edge of the scan volume,either using range finding or using a separate object detector based onone or more light sources and photodetectors.

In the second “profiling” mode the scan volume contains a detectedobject and the scanner is determining the two- or three-dimensionalprofile of the object from the point of view of the scanner, using rapidrange finding throughout the scan volume.

In the third “scanning” mode the scan volume contains a profiled objectand the scanner is actively scanning the object as described previously.Given a known object profile the scanner can optimise the patchdistribution to evenly cover the object and maximise the chances of tagacquisition.

It is also possible to operate the scanner with a fixed patch scanpattern rather than a scan pattern adapted to the profile of the object.In this case the tip-tilt steering mirror 1520 may be replaced by arotating holographic disc, each of whose segments encodes a differentbeam direction (and possibly beam focus). In this way the beam can besteered at in an arbitrary pre-determined pattern at the maximum patchrate. A scanner which utilises a holographic disc is described inDickson, L. D. and G. T. Sincerbox, “Optics and holography in the IBMsupermarket scanner”, in Selected Papers on Laser Scanning andRecording, SPIE Volume 378, referenced below.

The maximum patch rate of the scanner means that it can densely scan the500 mm height and 500 mm depth of the scan volume at about 8 Hz (or athalf this rate if time-multiplexed between the two sides of theconveyor). At a conveyor speed of 500 mm/s, the scanner is able toperform 5 such scans during 300 mm of product item movement. Thisprovides coverage of the three sides and top of the product itemrequired to be scanned by the scanner from one side of the conveyor.

If a fixed scan pattern is used then the scanner has no profiling mode.

Although this description has assumed a pixel rate of 100 MHz, thescanner can be configured to operate at a lower rate. In this case thepatch size is widened to accommodate increased skew induced by conveyormotion. Alternatively, the maximum speed of the conveyor may be reduced.

A number of components, systems and techniques related to the presentinvention are described in Beiser, L. and B. J. Thompson (eds.),Selected Papers on Laser Scanning and Recording, SPIE Volume 378 (SPIE1985), and in Smith, W. J., Modern Optical Engineering, 3rd edition(McGraw-Hill 2000), the contents of both of which are hereinincorporated by cross-reference.

8.4.2.2 Fixed Hologram Controlled Hyperlabel™ Laser Scanner

As an alternative to using the mirror based system to control thescanning beam, a holographic optical element may instead be used. Anexample of this will now be described with reference to FIG. 86.

In this example, a rotating holographic optical element 4600 is designedto both generate a scanning beam which moves over a patch, and toposition the patch on the product item 201. This therefore removes therequirement for both the horizontal and vertical deflectors 1510 and1511, and the mirror based control system 1518, 1528, as shown.

The functioning of the device otherwise is substantially as describedabove with respect to the mirror based control system and will nottherefore be described in any further detail.

However, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that theholographic element may direct the patch beam onto a number of mirrorsequivalent to the mirrors 1528, to allow for appropriate directing ofthe scanning beam onto the product item 201, as shown in FIG. 87.

Alternatively, the beam may be aimed directly into the sensing region.In this latter case, it will be appreciate that the patch beam willenter the sensing region from substantially one direction. However, thisstill allows retail checkouts to be achieved as will be described inmore detail below.

8.4.3.1 Column Array Based Retail Checkout

FIG. 88, FIG. 89, FIG. 90 and FIG. 91 show a first example of a retailcheckout 1000 which incorporates and is adapted to exploit the fixedHyperlabel™ laser scanner 1500. This may be either the mirror based orhologram based laser scanner systems, as will be appreciated by personsskilled in the art.

The checkout is designed to semi-automatically scan grocery and otheritems conveyed past the Hyperlabel™ scan posts 1022. The customertransfers items from a shopping cart 1004 to the conveyor 1014. Thecheckout operator 1002 ensures that tagged product items 1034 proceedthrough the scanner singly, but otherwise allows scanning to proceedautomatically. Unique item IDs make semi-automatic scanning possible,and semi-automatic scanning of unique IDs result in more accuratescanning and prevents fraudulent collusion between the operator and thecustomer.

The operator diverts untagged items such as fruit and vegetables to aset of scales 1028 for manual entry via the register touchscreen 1026.

Tagged items slide off the conveyor into an output holding area 1042after being scanned. Manually-processed untagged items are pushed by theoperator into the holding area. The holding area includes a moveableboom 1030 which allows the holding area to simultaneously receive itemsfor one customer while holding items for the previous customer. Thisallows the previous customer to continue bagging items in the baggingarea 1036 while the next customer is being serviced, thus optimisingcheckout throughput.

The checkout includes a register display 1008 visible to the customer.This displays the description and price of the most recently scanned ormanually entered item, as well as the running total. An indicator post1012 incorporated in the checkout advertises the checkout's number,availability and other status information.

A hand-held Hyperlabel™ scanner 4000 allows the operator to manuallyscan bulky items or items which otherwise fail to scan automatically.

The checkout also includes a cash drawer 1006, EFTPOS terminal 1018,transaction counter 1020, and receipt printer 1010. The receipt printermay be a netpage printer, as described in the main part of thisspecification, thus providing the customer with the downstream benefitsof netpage interactivity, such as the ability to record receipted itemsin a personal inventory, update a transaction history, and obtainproduct-level and item-level information about receipted items.

The receipt may also be printed on the reverse side withnetpage-interactive advertising, special offers, and redeemable coupons.

To support interoperability with bar coded as well as RFID tagged items,the checkout may incorporate a traditional bar code reading capabilityas well as an RFID tag reading ability.

Both the fixed Hyperlabel™ laser scanner 1500 and the hand-heldHyperlabel™ scanner 4000 can provide scan data in a standard format andaccording to standard interfaces and protocols, and can thus beessentially plug-compatible with other item ID (e.g. EPC) scanners suchas RFID readers, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,159, ora bar code scanner, examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,340,973, or 5,126,544.

8.4.3.2 Transparent Conveyor Based Retail Checkout

In an alternative configuration, the laser based scanning system isprovided within the checkout to direct the scanning beam into thesensing region through the conveyor.

In this example, shown in FIG. 92, the central unit 1501 of the scanningdevice is positioned below the conveyor to allow the scanning beam topass through the conveyor into the sensing region. Similar referencenumerals to FIGS. 88 and 89 denote similar elements, and will nottherefore be described in detail.

In this example, the conveyor belt 1014 is made at least partiallyinvisible to infrared radiation. This is preferably achieved byproviding holes in the conveyor belt which are of a sufficient area toallow the scanning beam to illuminate the product item and for thereflected radiation to pass back through the hole and be detected by thecentral unit 1501, as shown in FIG. 92.

This may be achieved by having the entire conveyor belt, or a portion1014 a thereof contructed from a mesh which has sufficient apertures forthe laser scanning beam to pass therethrough.

Alternatively, this may be achieved by utilising an infrared-transparentconveyor belt which is infrared-transparent almost over the entiresurface or at least a portion thereof. For example, ainfrared-transparent strip 1014 a could be provided along the centre ofthe conveyor belt as shown.

Operation is then substantially as described above.

It will be appreciated that this could be utilised in addition to thecolumn based checkout system described above to thereby further enhancethe chance of product items scanning correctly regardless of theirorientation on the conveyor belt.

8.4.4 Other Scanner Configurations

The Hyperlabel™ laser scanner 1500 may usefully be incorporated in othercheckout devices.

A variant of the Hyperlabel™ laser scanner may be incorporated in aself-checkout where the customer is responsible for scanning items. Evenif the customer is still required to manually present items to thescanner, the unique item ID ensures that duplicate scans do not occur,and Hyperlabel™ tagging ensures that the customer is more easily able toscan items without having to be concerned with correctly presenting abar code.

A variant of the Hyperlabel™ scanner may also be incorporated in ashopping cart in such a way that items added to the cart areautomatically scanned and added to a record of the cart's content, anditems removed from the cart are automatically scanned and removed fromthe record of the cart's content. In the shopping cart the scanner isconfigured to densely scan two scan volumes, each of which covers theentire opening into the cart. One scan volume lies above the other, andthe scanner is configured to distinguish an item addition from an itemremoval based on the order in which the item's ID is scanned in the twoscan volumes. Beam coverage of the scan volumes is assisted by mirrorsmounted around the opening into the cart.

It is also possible to provide a scanner which is adapted to scan bothHyperlabel™ tags and 2D bar codes or RFID tags.

In the first instance, the scanning optics for sensing coded data andbar codes may be substantially identical. Accordingly, the scanningdevice may be similar to those shown in FIG. 81. In many cases, nomodification of the scanning device is required. In some instanceshowever it is necessary to provide an alternative light source such as alaser which generates visible light to allow the 2D bar code to bedetected. An example of this is shown in FIG. 75.

Similarly, it is also possible for the scanning device to incorporate anRF-ID tag reader. Again, this will be a standard RFID tag reader whichis adapted to decode the EPC stored in the RFID tag.

8.5 Hyperlabel™-Based Netpage Interactions

A product item whose labelling, packaging or actual surface has beenHyperlabel™ tagged provides the same level of interactivity as any othernetpage.

There is a strong case to be made for netpage-compatible producttagging. netpage turns any printed surface into a finely differentiatedgraphical user interface akin to a Web page, and there are manyapplications which map nicely onto the surface of a product. Theseapplications include obtaining product information of various kinds(nutritional information; cooking instructions; recipes; relatedproducts; use-by dates; servicing instructions; recall notices); playinggames; entering competitions; managing ownership (registration; query,such as in the case of stolen goods; transfer); providing productfeedback; messaging; and indirect device control. If, on the other hand,the product tagging is undifferentiated, such as in the case of anundifferentiated 2D bar code or RFID-carried item ID, then the burden ofinformation navigation is transferred to the information deliverydevice, which may significantly increase the complexity of the userexperience or the required sophistication of the delivery device userinterface.

8.5.1 Product Registration

A Hyperlabel™ tagged product can contain a <register> button which, whenactivated with a netpage pen, registers the netpage user as the owner ofthe product. The user's contact information, which is already recordedon the netpage system, can be automatically transmitted to the productmanufacturer who can record it in their customer database. Theregistration process can automatically add the manufacturer to theuser's e-mail contact list, thus allowing the manufacturer to send theuser e-mail relevant to the product, such as related special offers,recall notices, etc. If the manufacturer abuses their e-mail privileges,the user can bar them in the usual way.

An example of the procedure for implementing this will be described withreference to FIG. 101 which shows a system for allowing productregistration. In particular, in this example, the user utilises anetpage pen 101, or other suitable sensing device, such as one of thescanning devices described above, to select the <register> button on theproduct item 201.

The netpage pen 101 captures an item ID and digital ink representing aclick, from the product interface surface, and forwards this to thenetpage pen server 500 associated with the netpage pen. The pen server500 uses a name server 501 to resolve the item ID to a product serveraddress, for example by using the manufacturer number, as describedabove.

The pen server 500 uses the server address to contact the product server251 and obtain the interface surface description therefrom. Aspreviously described, the interface surface description defines theaction associated with respective positions or on the interface surface,and accordingly, the pen server 500 interprets the pen input in relationto the interface description and as a result generates a registrationrequest. The request transferred to a manufacturer server 502, typicallyin accordance with a manufacturer server address determined from theitem ID. The manufacturer server 502 is operated by the manufacturer ofthe product item, or an entity associated with the manufacturer whichoperates to provide product registration facilities.

The manufacturer server 502 is responsive to the registration request toregister the user of the netpage pen 101 as the owner of the productitem 201. This will be achieved by having the manufacturer server 502update a database which contains information indicative of the currentowner of the product item. It will therefore be appreciated that this isgenerally updated with information such as the user's contactinformation. In one example, this is achieved by having the pen serverprovide an indication of user details previously associated with thenetpage pen 101, as part of the registration request.

Once registration has been performed, an optional response can be sentby the manufacturer server 502 confirming that registration is complete.This may be provided to the user via a terminal 504, such as the netpageprinter, or by any other suitable indicating device.

Accordingly, the selection of an appropriate <register> button, which istypically formed from a respective region on the product item'sinterface surface, allows the user the register themselves with themanufacturer as the existing owner of the product item.

It will be appreciated that the registration system may include a numberof variations. For example, in the above described example, the userdetails are automatically provided as part of the registration request.However, alternatively the user details may be provided in a subsequentstep, as shown in FIG. 102.

In particular, in this example, the manufacturer server 502 responds tothe registration request to generate a user details request form, whichis transferred to a terminal, which may be any form of terminal thatallows completion of the form by the user.

In one example, the terminal is formed from a netpage printer 601, whichpresents the user with an interactive form which can be completed usingthe netpage pen 101 in accordance with techniques described above withrespect to netpage interaction.

Thus, the form will include a number of fields into which the user canenter information using the netpage pen 101. The netpage pen transmitsdigital ink representative of the completed form information, to the penserver 500. The pen server 500 (or page server 10) retrieves a formdescription using the form page ID or region ID using the item ID,digital ink and interface description, and uses this to interpret thedigital ink to generate data representing the user details. The userdetails are then provided to the manufacturer server 502, which operatesto register the user, and optionally provide a registration response asdescribed above.

As a further alternative, the user may be identified to the manufacturerthrough the use of an alias ID, as previously described.

As an alternative to providing a <register> button on the product iteminterface surface, the sensing device can be adapted to operate in amode, such as a <register> mode, which allows registration to betriggered by clicking anywhere on the interface surface. In this case,the sensing device need only capture the item ID, with the pen serverbeing responsive to this to generate the registration request.

Selection of an appropriate mode may be achieved using an input providedon the sensing device, or alternatively, by the use of a suitablyencoded netpage which has buttons provided thereon.

8.5.2 Product Servicing

A Hyperlabel™ tagged product item can contain a <servicing> buttonwhich, when activated using a netpage pen, or other suitable scanningdevice, signals that the user requires servicing of the product item inquestion.

This may be achieved in a manner substantially similar to that describedabove with respect to product registration in either FIG. 101 or 102,and the flow of information will not therefore be described in detail.

In this particular instance however, the registration requesttransferred from the pen server 500 to the manufacturer server 502 isreplaced with a service request, which will indicate at least theproduct ID or the product item ID of the item requiring servicing. Inthis instance, the manufacturer server 502 responds to the servicingrequest in such a manner as to provide required servicing of theproduct.

This can therefore be achieved in a number of ways depending on therespective product item, the nature of the servicing required, and therespective implementation.

For example, the manufacturer server 502 may be adapted to initiate astandard response based on the item ID, and this will therefore beperformed in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 101, with themanufacturer server 502 generating an indication of the action to betaken as a response. This may include for example having an operatorcontact the user of the netpage pen 101 to determine further details ofthe servicing required, and/or to schedule appointments.

Alternatively, the response may simply indicate to the user a number tocall to contact the manufacturer, or specify an appointed action, suchas returning the product item to a specified location.

Alternatively, the product item can include a number of buttonsindicative of respective faults. In this instance, the user will selecta button indicative of a respective fault using the netpage pen 101,with an indication of this being provided in the servicing request,thereby allowing the manufacturer server to determine an appropriateresponse action.

Thus, for example, the manufacturer server 502 can be provided withdetails of respective action to be taken for each kind of faultindicated on the product item. Again, this may include for examplereturning the product for servicing, arranging for an engineer toservice the product, arranging for a portion of the product to bereplaced, or the like.

Alternatively, the <servicing> button may simply indicate that servicingis required, with the manufacturer server 502 generating a servicingform which is transferred to a terminal, such as the printer 601described above. This is used to allow the manufacturer to obtaindetails of the servicing required, in a manner similar to the provisionof the further user details, as described with respect to FIG. 102above.

In this case, the servicing form may include details of the type ofservicing required by the user, such as an indication of the nature ofthe fault, preferred times and dates for servicing or the like. The usercan complete the form using the netpage pen 101 with the pen server 500operating to forward on the details of the completed form to themanufacturer server 502. The manufacturer server can then arrange forservicing to be performed as required by the manufacturer.

8.5.3 Communications Services

A further operation of Hyperlabel™ tagging is to provide the user withaccess to services associated with the product item, such as for examplefree communications. Again, this may be achieved by having the userselect a <communications> button provided on an interface surfaceassociated with the product item.

An example of how this may be achieved will now be described withreference to FIG. 102, and for the specific example of thecommunications being an SMS.

In particular, in this example, the product item 201 is provided with an<SMS> button. In this instance, when the user wishes to send an SMS,they can select the <SMS> button utilising either the netpage pen 101,or a mobile phone which is adapted to incorporate a netpage pen orpointer function and in particular to operate as in a manner equivalentto a netpage pen.

In this instance, the method will be substantially as described abovewith the pen server 500 obtaining a server address from the name server501 and utilising this to obtain an interface description from theproduct server 251. The interface description will be used by the penserver 500 to determine that an <SMS> button has been activated, therebyindicating that user wishes to obtain a free SMS. Thus, the pen server500 generates an SMS request which is transferred to the manufacturerserver 502.

The manner in which the SMS is provided will vary depending on therespective implementation.

In a first embodiment, the manufacturer server 502 will respond to theSMS request to provide the user with an SMS response inclusive of anumber to which the SMS should be sent. The user simply generates an SMSin the usual way utilising their own mobile phone, and including anindication of the intended destination phone number. The user then sendsthe SMS to the number indicated in the SMS response to correspond to anumber operated by the manufacturer, or other entity.

The manufacturer or other entity will receive the SMS and then forwardthis to the destination number indicated in the SMS. Typically, thenumbers will be configured so that the user is not charged for thisprocess and in return for this, the manufacturer will typically embedadvertising within the sent SMS, such as an indication that the SMS wassent in accordance with a free SMS provided by the respective entity.

In a second example, the user sends the SMS directly to the destinationin the normal way. In this case, the manufacturer server 502 receivesdetails of the user's mobile phone number as part of the SMS request,and arranges payment of the SMS on the user's behalf.

In a third example, the process operates without requiring direct userinteraction with a mobile phone. In this instance, the <SMS> button 512is associated with a destination region 510 and a message region 511 onthe product item interface, as shown in FIG. 103.

In use, the user provides a hand-written indication of the destinationmobile phone number in destination region 510, and a hand-writtenindication of the message text in the message region 511. In this case,once this information has been completed, the user selects the <SMS>button 512 using the netpage pen 101, causing the netpage pen 101 totransfer the item ID and digital ink, indicative of the destination andmessage, to the pen server 500. In this instance, when the SMS requestis transferred to the manufacturer server 502, this will include thedestination number and message text which the manufacturer uses to sendthe SMS accordingly.

In a fourth example, the user selects the <SMS> button, causing the SMSrequest to be transferred to the manufacturer server 502. Themanufacturer server will then generate an SMS form, which is provided tothe user in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 102. The user thenprovides the destination and message body details via the form, allowingthe manufacturer to send the SMS accordingly.

It will be appreciated that these techniques can also apply to otherforms of communication, such as e-mail, MMS messages, or the like, aswell as to making free phone calls, or the like, in which case both thedelivered message and the embedded advertising may include images,graphics, audio, video and Web page content”.

8.5.4 Product Information Via Product ID

Some of the benefits of Hyperlabel™ tagging products can be gained byenhancing the netpage pen to decode UPC bar codes. Alternatively a UPCbar code scanner can netpage-enabled. When the netpage system receives ascanned UPC, it forwards a request to a default or favorite applicationfor that product type (as described earlier), and this in turn elicitsproduct information from the application, such as in the form of aprinted netpage. The product page can also include the facility to enterthe serial number of the product item and register the user's ownershipof it via a <register> button. Product manufacturers can thus gain thebenefits of netpage linking for their entire installed base of productswithout making alterations to the products themselves.

8.5.5 Context-Specific Product Help

If the entire surface of a product is Hyperlabel™ tagged, then pressingon any part of the surface with a netpage pen can then elicitproduct-specific help. The help is either specific to the area pressed,by providing respective <information> buttons, or making respectiveregions of the product interface surface responsive to providerespective information, or relates to the product as a whole. Thus theuser of the product has instant access to helpful information aboutspecific features of a product as well as the product as a whole. Eachfeature-specific help page can be linked to the entire product manual.

It will be appreciated that this can be achieved in manners similar tothose described above with respect to FIGS. 101 and 102, with anindication of the selected region, button, or simply the item ID beingtransferred to the manufacturer server to allow the information to beprovided.

8.5.6 Home Inventory

In a further example the system is adapted to provide home inventoryfunctionality by allowing a user to use a scanning device, such as ahand-held device described above with respect to FIGS. 58 to 75, or anetpage pen 101, to update details of product items within the home.

In one embodiment, when a user has purchases a product, they use thenetpage pen 101 to scan the coded data provided on the product item'sinterface surface, thereby allowing the pen server 500 to determine theitem ID. An indication of this can then be stored in a database on aproduct item list, which lists items currently owned by the user.

When the user uses the item, the product item can again be scanned, withthe pen server 500 using the determined item ID to remove the productitem from the product item list.

In the simplest embodiment, this therefore uses a singleundifferentiated scan process to both add and remove product items fromthe product item list. However, as this may lead to incorrect adding orremoval of items from the list, for example, due to double scanning ofan item, in an alternative embodiment, the scanning processes for addingand removing items from the list are differentiated, such that arespective scan operation is used to add and remove the product items.

In one example, this is achieved by providing respective <add> and<remove> buttons on the product item. In this instance, the user selectsan appropriate button, with the identity of the button being determinedby obtaining an interface surface description from the product server251, in a manner similar to that described above. The pen server willthen add the item to, or remove the item from the product item list asrequired.

As an alternative to providing respective buttons on the product iteminterface surface, the sensing device can be adapted to operate indifferent modes, such as an “add to list” mode and a “remove from list”mode. Selection of an appropriate mode may be achieved using an inputprovided on the sensing device, or alternatively, by the use of asuitably encoded netpage which has buttons provided thereon. In thiscase, the pen server interprets the pen input in relation to theinterface description and as a result uses this to select a scanningdevice mode. Again, this will be achieved by having the pen server 500to obtain a page description from a page server, and use this todetermine the operating mode associated with the respective button.

In addition to maintaining a list of current items within the home, thepen server 500 may also be adapted to store minimum stock levelindications in the form of predetermined thresholds of certain types ofproduct items. In this case, when the pen server 500 updates the productitem list, the pen server will determine the type of the product itemadded or removed from the product item list, and uses this to update atotal of the number of product items of the respective type. This valueis then compared to the predetermined threshold associated with therespective product item type. If the number of product items is belowthe threshold, an appropriate indication is generated that the productitem requires replenishment.

This can be achieved by adding an indication of the product item to ashopping list, which is therefore automatically updated with details ofproduct items that need replenishing. Accordingly, this allows the penserver 500 to maintain an inventory of product items currently in thehome and obtain a shopping list of items that are of stock below apredetermined level.

In the above examples, the functionality of maintaining the inventory istypically performed by an inventory application operating on a suitablecomputer system, such as a computer owned by, run by, and/or situated inthe user's home. In this case, the pen server (or page server) operatesto interpret digital ink and submit this to the application. In use,when the user goes shopping, the shopping list may be printed out in theform of a netpage, with the product item types and number of the productitems required being indicated by the coded data provided thereon. Thiscan then be used to ensure that correct items are purchased in the shopby scanning the shopping list, and then scanning selected product items,to allow these to be removed from the list.

Alternatively, the shopping list may be used to place an online order,either automatically, for example on a regular basis, or at the user'sdirection.

A number of other variations are also possible. For example, the penserver 500 can be adapted to record details of the status of productitems within the home, such as defining product items as in use.Furthermore, product items may also be added directly to shopping listsupon use (i.e. instead of maintaining a home inventory), again byselection of an appropriate input mode, through the use of a button onthe product item or the like.

8.5.7 Product Ownership Tracking

If the entire surface of a product is Hyperlabel™ tagged, then pressingon any part of the surface with a netpage pen can elicit a descriptionof the product and its current ownership. After the product ispurchased, pressing on any part of the surface can automaticallyregister the product in the name of the owner of the netpage pen. Anyonecan determine the ownership of a product offered for sale simply bypressing on any part of its surface with a netpage Pen. Ownership mayonly be registered by a new owner if the current owner has relinquishedownership by signing the “sell” portion of the product's status page.This places the product in an “un-owned” state.

Product information and ownership is maintained either by the productmanufacturer, as a service to its customers, or by a profit-orientedthird party.

The shipping computer system of a product manufacturer can automaticallytransfer ownership of products from the manufacturer to the distributoror retailer, and so on down through the supply chain. The retailcomputer system of the retailer can automatically mark each sold item asfree, or transfer ownership directly to the holder of the payment cardused to pay for the product. The customer can also use a netpage pen atthe point of sale to register immediate ownership of the product.

Traditional clearing-houses for stolen goods, such as pawn shops, can berequired by law to check the ownership of all products presented tothem. Since a Hyperlabel™ tagged product has an invisible encoding onmost or all of its surface, it is difficult for a thief to remove it oreven tell if it has been successfully removed. Conversely, it isincumbent on a potential buyer of a product to ensure that a cleanreading can be obtained from its surface so that its ownership can beindisputably established.

Where a product is leased or otherwise subject to complex or multipleownership, the product registration database can reflect this and thusalert a potential buyer.

8.5.8 Light Weight Web Interface

As described earlier, Hyperlabel™ tagged products can be used to requestlinked Web pages for printing or display on a Web terminal, e.g. ascreen-based Web browser running on a personal computer (PC), mobiletelephone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

In the absence of infrastructure support for product interfacedescriptions, a single page ID can be used per page, or an individuallink ID can be used for each embedded hyperlink, i.e. the position 86usually encoded in a netpage tag (or Hyperlabel™ tag) can be replaced bya link number, either selectively or over the entire page.

If the page ID is structured (e.g. if it includes an item ID 215), thenpart of the page ID (e.g. the product ID 214) can be used to identify aWeb page directly, i.e. via some rule for encoding the ID as an UniformResource Identifier (URI), and the remaining part (e.g. the serialnumber 213) can be appended to the URI as a unique session ID(transaction ID). The presence of the session ID can allow thecorresponding Web server to enforce per-item behavior, such as ensuringthat a competition is only entered once. If link numbers are used, thenthey also form part of the URI.

8.5.9 Local Computer Application Interface

The user interface to a GUI-based computer application running on amulti-tasking computer can be printed as a netpage on a user interfaceor command “card”. The printed user interface can include a “digitizerpad” area for moving the GUI pointer relative to the application.Invoking any function of the application's user interface or moving theGUI pointer, automatically makes the application current—i.e. if theapplication is running in a windowed GUI system then its window isbrought to the front and made current. If the application is notcurrently running, then it is automatically launched.

The printed user interface for a text-oriented application can contain aprinted keyboard, a general-purpose handwriting input text field, orboth.

A personal computer system or workstation can thus potentially consistof a screen for displaying GUI output, a number of application-specificprinted user interfaces, a sensing device (typically a stylus) forsensing user operations relative to the printed user interfaces, and acomputer which receives wired or wireless transmissions from the sensingdevice, runs applications, and interprets sensed inputs relative to eachapplication.

Each printed user interface “card” can be encoded with a unique page IDspecific to the application, and tagged with an attribute whichinstructs the personal computer or workstation to interpret operationson the page relative to a local instance of the application, even in aglobal networked netpage environment.

If the computer is a network terminal connected to a LAN, an intranet,or the Internet, any interaction with the printed user interface canlaunch or interact with a networked instance of the application.

8.5.10 Sensing Device Context

The same netpage may elicit different behavior depending on the type,identity and/or context of the netpage sensing device used to interactwith it. For example, a netpage pen or stylus connected to a PC or Webterminal without a netpage printer (or prior to full netpage systemdeployment) may elicit displayed Web pages or even local applicationbehavior, as described above. In the presence of a netpage printer thesame sensing device may elicit printed netpages, possibly with adifferent format and behavior to the corresponding on-screen versions.

8.6.1 Orientation Determination

It will be appreciated that by providing an interface surface over asubstantial portion of a product item or other object, and by utilisingthe positional information encoded in the coded data provided thereon,this allows the orientation of the product item or object to bedetermined.

In particular, if the object is scanned by a scanning system whoselocation is known, such as the scanning system described with respect toFIG. 82, detecting a coded data tag allows the pen server 500 to accessthe interface surface page description, from the product server 251, anduse this to determine the location of the tag on the object.

In addition to this, the tag also encodes orientation information.Accordingly, by determining the orientation of the tag, and combiningthis with information regarding the position of the sensed tag on theinterface surface, this allows the position and orientation of an objectto be determined.

Thus, it will be appreciated that this is similar to determining theposition and orientation of a netpage pen 101 with respect to a netpage,albeit with the scanning device remaining stationary whilst the objectand the associated interface surface move.

In a variation on the above described technique, particularly where ahigh degree of accuracy is not required, or if it is merely required todetermine which way up an object is, for example to determine on whichface a box is resting, each face of the box can be encoded as arespective region provided on the interface surface. This is achieved byassigning a respective region ID to each tag on a respective face of thebox or other object.

In this case, the scanner can be positioned so as to detect data tags onone face, such as the top of the object. In this case, the region IDdetermined from the detected tag will be used to access an interfacesurface description in the usual way, with description simply indicatinga respective surface of the object in accordance with the region ID,thereby allowing the orientation of the object to be determined.

In a further example, the region ID encoded in the coded data candirectly indicate the face of an object, such as the top, side, bottom,as well as an orientation with respect to a nominal reference. Thisallows the orientation of the object to be determined directly from thecoded data without reference to a description of the object, or aninterface surface description.

In the event that the absolute position of the tag on the interfacesurface is not required, then it is possible to use object-indicatingtags instead of position-indicating tags.

8.6.2 Assembly/Packing System

It will be appreciated that the orientation determining system describedabove can be used to pack objects, as well as to assemble objects fromcomponent parts.

An example of this will now be described with reference to FIG. 104, inwhich an object 6001 is transported on a conveyor 6002 through a sensingregion 6003 generated by a scanning device 6004. In this example, theobject 6001 is to be packed into a box 6011, transported via a conveyor6012 through a sensing region 6013 generated by a scanning device 6014.In this example, the scanning devices 6004, 6014 are formed fromscanning devices similar to that described with respect to FIG. 82.

In addition to this, a robotic packing system formed from a robot arm6020, having a manipulator 6021, which is provided to allow the object6001 to be packed into the box 6011. The arm may be any form of arm, asdescribed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,876.

In use, this is achieved by having the scanning device 6004 senseHyperlabel™ tags provided on the surface of the object, thereby allowingorientation and position of the object 6001 to be determined, using thetechniques described above. Similarly, the scanning device 6014 is usedto determine the orientation and position of the box 6011 usingHyperlabel™ tags provided thereon.

Signals from the sensing devices regarding the orientation and positionof the object 6001 and the box 6011 are then transferred to a controlsystem 6022, which operates to cause the robotic arm 6020 to pick up theobject 6001 using the manipulator 6021 and insert the object into thebox 6011.

It will be appreciated that this form of position determination to allowpacking of objects can be utilised in any form of generic packing systemas the nature of the robotic system is not important for the purposes ofthe present invention. It will therefore be appreciated that thetechniques can be used in any packing system, such as the packing systemdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,219, whilst avoiding the need forcomplex orientation determination as described therein.

It will be appreciated that as a variation, the system can be adapted toassemble complex objects from component parts. Thus, for example, theconveyors 6002, 6012 can be adapted to carry respective component parts,with the scanning devices 6004, 6014 being used to detect the position,orientation and identity of the component parts, as described above.Once the component parts have been determined, the control system 6022determines in accordance with predetermined assembly instructions, themanner in which the component parts should be combined to form thecomplex object. The robotic arm 6020 can then be operated to inaccordance with the assembly instructions and the orientation andposition of the respective component parts, thereby allowing the objectto be constructed.

It will be appreciated that in such cases, it is typical to require morethan one robotic arm, and potentially other manipulating devices forperforming specific operations, such as welding of the component parts.

Thus, this system allows components, such as car parts or the like, tohave coded data disposed thereon at certain predetermined locations. Thecoded data may be disposed by printing, etching, or the like. The carpart would then be scanned by an appropriate scanning device to allowits exact orientation to be determined, allowing the parts to beassembled into a car.

It will be appreciated that this form of position determination to allowcomponents to be assembled into an object can be utilised in any form ofgeneric robotic system as the nature of the robotic system is notimportant for the purposes of the present invention. It will thereforebe appreciated that the techniques can be used in any robotic assemblysystem, such as the system described in US-2004016112.

This therefore prevents the need for precise vision systems, such asthat described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,476, which are often extremelyexpensive and often unreliable.

Again, coded data can directly indicate the face of an object orcomponent, such as the top, side, bottom, as well as an orientation withrespect to a nominal reference. Similarly, it is possible to useobject-indicating tags instead of position-indicating tags, to sense theposition and/or orientation of the component or object.

8.7.1 Shopping Receptacle

FIG. 105 shows a shopping trolley or cart 6100 fitted with one or twoscanning devices 6101, which operate to sense product items 201positioned in a sensing region 6102 corresponding to the opening of theshopping receptacle. It will be appreciated that the scanning device(s)may be similar to the scanning devices described above.

In any event, as product items are inserted into the receptacle 6100,the scanning device(s) 6101 scan the product item and detect coded datatags provided thereon, allowing the item ID of the product item to bedetermined. It will be appreciated that this may provide a variety offunctionality to the shopper.

In particular, in a first example, an associated computer system adds anindication of the scanned product item to a purchase list, which storesan indication of each product item added to the receptacle. This allowsthe user to automatically scan items when they are placed in theshopping receptacle, allowing them to be subsequently purchased in somemanner.

Thus, when a user has selected all the product items required, thescanning device 6101 can be adapted to determine a cost of all theproduct items thereby allowing payment to be made. It will beappreciated that this may be achieved in any one of a number of mannersdepending on the situation.

For example, the user may present their receptacle to a cashier who willdetermine an indication of the cost of the items from the computersystem, thereby allowing payment to be collected. In this case, if thecomputer system is provided on the receptacle itself, this can beachieved by having the cashier interrogate the computer system using asuitable communications system.

Alternatively, the computer system may be provided centrally, therebyallowing a single computer system to monitor lists for each of thereceptacles in a store. In this instance, when the scanning device 6101detects the addition of the product item to the receptacle, anindication of the item ID, together with an identifier associated withthe receptacle will be transferred to the computer system, therebyallowing the computer system to maintain a respective list associatedwith each receptacle. In this instance, the cashier will determine thelist for a respective receptacle by providing an indication of theidentity of the receptacle to the computer system, thereby allowing thecomputer system to retrieve the relevant purchase list.

A number of variations on the above are also possible.

For example, the scanning device 6101 can be provided with a userinterface, such as a touch sensitive display, thereby allowing the listto be displayed to the user. This also allows product item informationto be determined by placing the product item in the sensing region 6102.In this example, the product information may include information such asthe:

-   -   manufacturer;    -   item identity;    -   expiry date;    -   nutritional information; and,    -   or any other appropriate information.

The user interface may also allow the user to make control inputs, suchas to select articles on the purchase list, allowing further informationto be provided, or the like.

In one example, product items are added to the list when placed into thereceptacle and removed from the list once removed from the receptacle.However, as an alternative, the user may be required to enter a specialmode to thereby remove items from the list.

It will be appreciated that the receptacle may be in the form of abasket as shown in FIG. 107.

8.7.2 Shopping Receptacle Incorporating Scales

In a further embodiment of the shopping receptacles, the shoppingreceptacle is further modified to include a weighing device, such aselectronic scales, shown generally at 6105 in FIG. 108. In this example,the weighing device operates to weigh the product items placed in thereceptacle as each product item is placed therein. The weight determinedby the weighing device is then compared to a predetermined weightindicated for the product item.

Thus, the computer system will use each item ID to access data stored ina store which indicates the weight of the respective product item. Itwill be appreciated that this may be provided in the productinformation. The weight determined using the item ID is then compared tothe weight determined by the weighing device 6105.

In the event that the scanned product item and weight of product itemsinserted into the receptacle do not agree, this indicates that there hasbeen a scanning error, or that the user has attempted to insert morethan one item into the receptacle, to thereby disguise the presence ofone of the items, allowing the item to be fraudulently obtained. In theevent that such a disparity is determined then an indication of thiswill be provided allowing the user to correct the scanning error.

In the event that this is not corrected, an alert can be activated,allowing the contents of the user's receptacle to be checked by shoppingassistants in-store, security or the like.

8.7.3 Shopping Receptacle/Scanner Association

In one example, the shopping receptacle 6100 is associated with a userprior to commencing shopping. This may be achieved for example by havingthe user present an identity card to the scanning device 6101, asdescribed in more detail below.

In this instance, the scanning device 6101, upon determining the useridentity, will transfer an indication of this in the form of a user ID,together with a shopping receptacle ID, to a computer system. This maybe the same computer system which retains the details of the purchaselist. In any event, when the user completes shopping, this allows thetotal of the product items purchased to be determined from the computeron the basis of the user's identity.

Thus, it will be appreciated from this, that the shopping receptaclebecomes associated with the identity of the user so as to define ashopping session. At the end of the shopping session, when the user hasselected all the product items required and arranged payment, thereceptacle is disassociated from the user.

This allows systems of automated payment to be implemented. For example,the user can place product items for purchase in the shopping receptacleand walk through an exit station. On walking through the exit station,the scanning device 6101 transmits information concerning the productitems purchased and the shopping receptacle identity to a paymentserver. The payment server determines the identity of the userassociated with the respective shopping receptacle, and operates todebit an account of the user accordingly, thereby providing an automatedcheckout facility.

In addition to this, it is possible for the user to be provided withpersonalised information via the user interface. For example, the usercan register details of allergies, such as nut allergies, with thestore. In this case, when the user has been associated with areceptacle, if a product item contains a relevant ingredient, such asnuts, a warning can be provided to the user.

In addition to this, advertising, details of special offers, or thelike, can be provided via the user interface, with this informationbeing tailored to user preferences, or the like.

As an alternative to providing a scanning device associated with ashopping receptacle, it is also possible to provide a handheld scanningdevice which is used by users to scan select items placed in a normalreceptacle. In this case, a record of the product items scanned forpurchase is stored in a memory in the scanning device, or is wirelesslytransferred to a suitable computer system which stores a recordassociated with the identity of the scanning device, or the user. Uponleaving the store, the user relinquishes the scanning device, and ischarged accordingly for those product items purchased using the scanningdevice. This may be achieved, for example, by using the user's identityto determine a charge account which can be used to make payment.

8.7.4 Card Encoding

An example of a card which may be utilised with the system describedabove will now be described with respect to FIG. 109. In particular, theloyalty card can be any form of credit card size card formed typicallyfrom a plastic substrate, or the like. The card may include informationsuch as the user's name 6150, signature field 6151, and optionally othersecurity information such as holographic tags 6152 or a magnetic stripe6153 with information encoded thereon.

Coded data 6154 is disposed over a substantial area of the card, asshown at 6154. In use, the coded data is used to encode data indicativeof a user identity, such as a netpage user ID or alias ID, as describedabove.

This is typically achieved by using a card blank, including the securityinformation thereon. The card may then be printed or embossed with theuser's name, before or after being printed or embossed with the codeddata. In addition to this, the process may also additionally, oralternatively, involve encoding additional information in the magneticstripe. The card is then issued to the user, allowing the user to signthe card in the signature field.

The card may also include additional information disposed thereon, suchas the user information, a logo of a retailer, other securityinformation, a name of a retailer, or the like. This information mayagain be printed using visible ink, either before or after the printingof the coded data.

In use, the store can use the sensed coded data to identify the user anddetermine details or payment information, or the like.

8.8 Near-Infrared Dyes

Near-infrared dyes suitable for Hyperlabel™ tagging (and netpage taggingin general) exhibit relatively strong absorption in the near infraredpart of the spectrum while exhibiting relatively minimal absorption inthe visible part of the spectrum. This facilitates tag acquisition undermatched illumination and filtering, while minimising any impact onvisible graphics and text.

FIG. 93 and FIG. 95 show the molecular structures of a pair of suitablenear-infrared dyes.

FIG. 93 shows the structure of isophorone nickel dithiolate. As shown inFIG. 94, it exhibits a strong absorption peak around 900 nm in the nearinfrared, while exhibiting relatively minimal absorption in the visiblespectrum.

FIG. 95 shows the structure of camphor sulfonic nickel dithiolate. Asshown in FIG. 96, it exhibits a strong absorption peak just below 800 nmin the near infrared, while exhibiting relatively minimal absorption inthe visible spectrum.

8.6 Hyperlabel™ Tagging Benefits

Some of the benefits of Hyperlabel™ tagging will now be discussed. Thiswill focus on the costs and benefits of item-level tagging usingHyperlabel™ tag-carried EPCs in grocery. Note, however, that Hyperlabel™tags are also applicable to higher-valued items, and items which aretagged with RFIDs may usefully be Hyperlabel™ tagged as well to allowscanning without RFID infrastructure or after RFID erasure.

Assuming case-level RFID tagging and item-level Hyperlabel™ tagging, anitem is accurately recorded into retail store inventory when itscorresponding case is received and scanned. Ignoring stocktake-relatedscanning for the moment, the item is next scanned at the checkout, atwhich time it is recorded as sold and removed from on-hand storeinventory.

A grocery checkout system based on optical reading of Hyperlabel™ tags,such as the system described above can provide equivalent capabilities.Grocery item labels and packaging are particularly well-suited toHyperlabel™ tagging, where much or all of the visible surface of aproduct item can be tagged. A Hyperlabel™ reader can reliably scan aHyperlabel™ tagged product item presented in its field of view,irrespective of the item's orientation. If an item instead carried onlya single visible bar code (whether UPC or unique), then reliablescanning would only be achieved by presenting the item's bar codedirectly to the reader, as occurs at checkouts at present. This would inturn preclude automatic scanning.

In practice a Hyperlabel™ reader is designed to scan the scanning fieldfrom at least two substantially orthogonal directions. This helps thereader scan items which are only partially Hyperlabel™ tagged, such astins which may have untagged tops and bottoms, and can also help thereader avoid occlusions which may occur in manual presentationscenarios, i.e. due to the hand presenting the item to the reader.

Since partial and incremental item-level RFID tagging of higher-valuegrocery items is likely, in practice a checkout may incorporate bothRFID and Hyperlabel™ readers. Since Hyperlabel™ tagging may itself beintroduced incrementally, a checkout may incorporate RFID, Hyperlabel™and bar code reading ability.

Automatic checkouts bring a number of benefits. They reduce staff costsby reducing reliance on trained checkout operators, both by reducingrequired skill levels at manned checkout stations, and by facilitatingsimplified self-checkout by customers, thus increasing its acceptance.In addition, automatic checkouts minimise the possibility of collusionbetween the operator and the customer, i.e. where the operatordeliberately omits scanning selected items, thus resulting in reducedshrinkage.

Self-checkout has the intrinsic benefit that a single operator canoversee multiple self-checkout stations. Since scan errors are morelikely during self-checkout than during manned checkout, self-checkoutstations incorporate scales which allow an item's weight to becross-checked against the item's scanned class. This also helps toprevent substitution-based cheating by the customer. Item-level taggingmakes scanning more accurate, and makes substitution more difficult,since the substituted item must be an unsold item in the store'sinventory, and can only be used once.

Once an item is in the customer's hands, the item's EPC can serve as alink to useful item-related online information. This is discussed indetail later in a companion paper.

When an item is shoplifted or otherwise stolen from a store, it remainsrecorded as part of the store's on-hand inventory. In the case ofitem-level RFID tagging, theft can arguably be detected by RFID readersstrategically positioned at store exits. However, a shoplifter or thiefcan exploit RFID readers' problems with radiopacity by shielding thestolen item's RFID tag from exit readers. Once at large, however, thestolen item's EPC acts as a persistent link to information whichindicates that the item has not been legitimately obtained. Thisauditability of any item serves as a powerful deterrent to shopliftingand theft, including the acquisition of goods whose providence issuspect. Note that this applies equally to items shoplifted via anauto-checkout.

If and when the customer decides to return a legitimately-purchased itemto a retail store because the item is unwanted, unsuitable or defective,the EPC serves as a link to information which confirms that the item hasbeen legitimately obtained from the same store or the same retail chain.This prevents fraudulent returns, such as the attempted “return” ofstolen goods, and ensures that any credit associated with a legitimatereturn matches not the current price but the original purchase price,which may be substantially different. The EPC also allows the return tobe accurately recorded, so that the returned item itself is less likelyto be subject to internal loss or theft.

With item-level tagging, inventory records intrinsically become moreaccurate, with the consequence that automatic reordering andreplenishment becomes more reliable and hence relied-upon. This in turnimproves stock availability while simultaneously reducing reliance onsafety stock. Demand-driven efficiencies then flow back up the supplychain.

Case-level RFID tracking in the backroom, coolroom and freezer, eitherduring case movement or in situ, allows accurate backroom stockmonitoring. Case-level RFID tracking onto the sales floor allowsaccurate recording of shelf-stock additions, and item-level tracking atthe checkout allows accurate recording of shelf-stock removals.

Imminent out-of-stock conditions on the sales floor are rapidly detectedfrom on-shelf stock levels, and replacement stock availability in thebackroom is rapidly determined from backroom stock levels, as well asthe approximate or exact location of the replacement stock in thebackroom.

Unlike with UPCs, poor shelf stock rotation is easily detected viaitem-level tracking at the checkout. If newer stock of a product isinadvertently sold in preference to older stock, then a stock rotationalert can be raised for the product in question. Shop staff caninterrogate the shelf stock in question using hand-held scanners toobtain date codes, or can read date codes directly off the stock. Poorstock rotation is thereby addressed before the stock in question becomesunsaleable, leading to a general reduction in the unsaleable rate.

Relatedly, Hyperlabel™ tagging makes it possible to construct smartdispensers for high-value and high-turnover items which incorporateHyperlabel™ readers and monitor all dispensing and replenishmentoperations to allow imminent out-of-stocks to be signalled and sweeps tobe detected.

Hyperlabel™ tagging, in contrast to RFID tagging, is likely costsignificantly less than one cent once established, and to becomenegligible in the longer term, particularly once digital printing ofproduct labels and packaging becomes established. It is therefore likelythat item-level Hyperlabel™ tagging in the grocery sector is justified.

FIG. 97 shows the threshold cost of a tag as a function of cost savingsprojected as accruing from item-level tagging. Assuming wildlyoptimistic cost savings of 50% accruing from item-level tagging, thethreshold cost of a tag is just over two cents. Assuming more realisticbut still quite optimistic cost savings of 25%, the threshold cost of atag is just over one cent.

Whilst the read-only nature of most optical tags has been cited as adisadvantage, since status changes cannot be written to a tag as an itemprogresses through the supply chain. However, this disadvantage ismitigated by the fact that a read-only tag can refer to informationmaintained dynamically on a network.

As noted earlier, if incremental tagging of higher-priced grocery itemstakes place, then the average price of remaining grocery items isreduced, and the threshold cost of a tag is further reduced as well.This makes universal item-level RFID tagging even less likely, and makesa case for the use of Hyperlabel™ tagging as a lower-cost adjunct toRFID tagging.

8.6.1 Shrinkage

The cost of shrinkage in the grocery sector was 1.42% of net sales in2001-2002, equating to about $7 billion. The cost of shrinkage thereforeexceeded net profit. Table 5 summarises sources of shrinkage in thegrocery sector.

TABLE 5 Sources of shrinkage in the grocery sector approximate costsource of shrinkage contribution ($millions) internal theft 62.0% 4,340external theft 23.0% 1,610 supplier fraud  7.6% 530 paper shrinkage 7.4% 520 total  100% 7,000

The largest source of shrinkage in the grocery sector, at 62% or around$4.3 billion, is internal theft, consisting mainly of product theft byemployees. This is followed, at 23% or around $1.6 billion, by externaltheft, consisting mainly of shoplifting. Supplier fraud and papershrinkage together account for the final 15% or $1 billion.

Table 4 summarises the ways in which item-level RFID tagging can be usedto address the various sources of shrinkage, as described in Alexander,K. et al., Applying Auto-ID to Reduce Losses Associated with Shrink, MITAuto-ID Center, November 2002,http://www.autoidcenter.org/research/IBM-AUTOID-BC-003.pdf. The tablealso shows how item-level Hyperlabel™ tagging can in many caseseffectively address the same issues.

As shown in the table, item-level RFID addresses employee theft andshoplifting predominantly via exit-door RFID readers which detectattempts to remove unsold goods, while Hyperlabel™ tagging acts adeterrent to theft since item-level tagging supports downstream auditingof suspected stolen goods.

As described earlier, item-level scanning at point-of-sale improvesaccuracy and enables automatic scanning, while item-level recording ofsales prevents attempted fraudulent returns, both largely independentlyof tagging method. Automatic checkout scanning in turn reduces collusionbetween checkout operators and customers.

TABLE 6 Sources of shrinkage, RFID solutions and Hyperlabel ™ solutionssource of RFID Hyperlabel ™ shrinkage pain point solution solutioninternal theft product theft exit door scan N/A audit deterrent; N/A^(c)collusion with automatic automatic customers checkout checkout^(d)collusion with N/A^(c) N/A^(c) vendors external theft shoplifting exitdoor scan^(b) audit deterrent fraudulent returns item status check itemstatus check burglary audit deterrent; audit deterrent; N/A^(c) N/A^(c)supplier phantom delivery N/A^(c) N/A^(c) fraud invoice errors N/A^(c)N/A^(c) returns item status update item status update over/under N/A^(c)N/A^(c) delivery paper pricing errors N/A N/A^(e) shrinkage scanningerrors automatic automatic checkout^(d) checkout^(d) unrecorded itemstatus update item status update returns incorrect store automaticautomatic physical stocktake^(b); checkout^(d) inventory automaticcheckout^(d)8.6.2 Unsaleables

The cost of unsaleables in the grocery sector was 0.95% of net sales in2001-2002 Lightburn, A., 2002 Unsaleables Benchmark Report, JointIndustry Unsaleables Steering Committee 2002, equating to about $5billion. The cost of unsaleables was therefore almost comparable to netprofit. Table 7 summarises sources of unsaleables in the grocery sector.

TABLE 7 Sources of unsaleables in the grocery sector approximate costsource of unsaleable contribution ($millions) damaged 63% 3,150out-of-code 16% 800 discontinued 12% 600 seasonal 6% 300 other 4% 200total 101% 5,050

The largest cause of unsaleables in grocery, at 63% or over $3 billion,is damaged product. This includes product which is unlabelled,improperly sealed, over- or under-weight, only partially filled,crushed, dented or collapsed, swollen or rusted (cans), moldy, leaking,soiled, stained or sticky.

Much of this damage is due to poor transport and handling, anditem-level tagging helps by allowing the supply-chain history of adamaged item to be queried. Over time this can pinpoint a particularproblem area, such as a specific distribution center where stafftraining is inadequate, or a specific forklift operator who needs totake more care. Furthermore, item-level tagging makes it feasible tofeed remedial information back to the appropriate point in the supplychain, including as far back as the original manufacturer or one of itssuppliers.

The second-largest cause of unsaleables in grocery, at 16% or around$800 million, is out-of-code (i.e. expired) product. Item-level taggingsupports better stock rotation, for example via checkout-driven alerts.

Discontinued and seasonal product is more of a problem in retail sectorssuch as consumer electronics and apparel Alexander, K. et al., ApplyingAuto-ID to Reduce Losses Associated with Product Obsolescence, MITAuto-ID Center, November 2002,http://www.autoidcenter.org/research/IBM-AUTOID-BC-004.pdf, but stillaccount, at 12% and 6% respectively (or around $600 million and $300respectively), for a non-trivial proportion of grocery unsaleables.Discontinued product includes product withdrawn by manufacturers, andproduct made unsaleable by labelling and SKU changes due to mergers andacquisitions.

Item-level tagging helps reduce safety stock and so reduces exposure todiscontinued and seasonal product. By improving stock visibility, itmakes offloading of soon-to-discontinued or seasonal product moreefficient, i.e. without requiring excessive markdowns or manufacturerreturns. Finally, by improving auditability, it allows better accountingof discontinued and seasonal stock back to the original manufacturer,rather than forcing reliance on inefficient swell allowances Reilly, D.,“Retail returns—a necessary problem, a financial opportunity”, ParcelShipping & Distribution.

8.6.3 Out-of-Stocks

Out-of-stocks were estimated to result in a 3% loss in net sales in2001-2002 [25], which translates into a $200 million reduction in netprofit, or about 0.04% of net sales.

Although out-of-stocks have a much smaller effect on the bottom linethan shrinkage and unsaleables, they are felt particularly acutelybecause they demonstrably undermine customer loyalty to brand, store andchain, and are considered eminently correctable.

Table 6 summarises the ways in which case-level and item-level RFIDtagging can be used to address the various causes of out-of-stocks, asdescribed in Alexander, K. et al., Focus on Retail: Applying Auto-ID toImprove Product Availability at the Retail Shelf, MIT Auto-ID Center,June 2002. The table also shows how item-level Hyperlabel™ tagging, inconjunction with case-level RFID tagging, can in many cases effectivelyaddress the same issues.

TABLE 8 Sources of out-of-stocks, RFID solutions and Hyperlabel ™solutions RFID Hyperlabel ™ pain point solution solution receivingaccuracy case-level case-level tracking and some tracking^(b) item-leveltracking on-hand stock visibility case-level case-level tracking^(b) anditem- tracking^(b) and item- level tracking using level tracking at thesmart shelves and at checkout the checkout replenishment from thecase-level case-level backroom tracking^(b) and item- tracking^(b) leveltracking plan-o-gram compliance/ manual and manual product lifecyclemanagement smart shelves^(c) cycle counting/manual manual and manualordering errors smart shelves^(c) physical inventory counts manual andmanual (preparation and execution) smart shelves^(c) point-of-sale scanaccuracy automatic automatic checkout checkout^(d) inaccuratereplenishment automatic automatic algorithms checkout checkout^(d)8.6.4 Privacy Implications of Item-Level Tagging

An RFID tag is promiscuous in that it responds with its ID to a queryfrom an RFID reader without verifying the reader's right to ask. When auniquely tagged item is travelling through the supply chain and benefitsfrom being tracked, this promiscuity is useful, but once the item ispurchased by a customer and no longer needs to be tracked, it can becomea problem. The owner of the item may have no idea that the item's RFIDtag is being queried surreptitiously, since the reader doesn't requireline-of-sight to the tag. Even low-cost passive tags intended forhigh-volume tagging of product items can be read from a distance of atleast a meter, and in many cases much further. If the RFID tag containsa unique item ID, then for tracking purposes the item ID becomes apointer to the person, particularly if the RFID is embedded in clothing,shoes, a wristwatch or jewellery.

RFIDs typically support a partial or complete self-erasure command, andit is proposed that RFIDs should be at least partially erased atpoint-of-sale to remove an item's serial number (but not necessarily itsproduct number). It is also proposed, in an “RFID Bill of Rights”, thatsuch erasure should be the prerogative of the customer. It is stillunclear whether retailers will erase tags by default or even givecustomers a choice.

Even if serial numbers are erased at point-of-sale, the “constellation”of product codes readable from the various RFID tags carried by aparticular person may still constitute a sufficiently unique signaturefor tracking purposes.

Hyperlabel™ tags are less promiscuous than RFIDs since they requireline-of-sight for reading. Unlike RFID tags which are likely to bephysically embedded in product during manufacture, Hyperlabel™ tags arelikely to only appear on labels and packaging, which in the case ofhigher-priced items such as clothing and shoes is typically removed fromthe product prior to use. Where Hyperlabel™ tags persist onhigher-priced product items, they typically do so in discreet locationssuch as on labels sewn into the seams of clothing. For lower-priceditems such as grocery, the persistence of item-level tagging is not athreat to privacy.

If privacy advocates succeed in forcing RFIDs to be erased atpoint-of-sale by default, then dual RFID tagging and Hyperlabel™ taggingprovides a way of providing consumers with the downstream benefits ofitem-level tagging without the privacy concerns of RFID, includingonline access to item-specific product information, as well as validatedreturns, warranties and servicing.

8.6.5 Conclusion

Accordingly, Hyperlabel™ tags provide a useful technique for item-levelproduct tagging.

In particular, Hyperlabel™ tagging is inexpensive, making iteconomically viable for product items priced below a threshold value ofa few dollars, such as the average grocery items, unlike RFID tags. Inthe grocery sector in particular, this provides many benefits such asreducing shrinkage, unsaleables and out-of-stocks.

In addition to this however, Hyperlabel™ tags provide consumers with thedownstream benefits of item-level tagging such as the provision ofadditional interactivity, including the ability to define multipleinteractive regions on product labels or packaging, which makes the useof Hyperlabel™ tagging preferable to the use of RFID tags.

It will be appreciated however that in some circumstances Hyperlabel™tagging can be used in conjunction with RFID tagging.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a number ofspecific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat the invention can be embodied in many other forms.

1. A packing system comprising: a first object to be packed, said objectcomprising an interface surface having a plurality of tags printedthereon, each tag containing coded data identifying the object; and asensing device comprising: (a) an optical sensor for sensing at leastone tag; (b) a processor for generating, using the sensed tag,indicating data identifying the object and at least one of: (i) aposition of the sensed tag; (ii) a position of the sensing devicerelative to the interface surface; (iii) an orientation of the sensedtag; and, (iv) an orientation of the sensing device relative to theinterface surface; and, (c) means for transferring the indicating datato at least one of: (i) a packing device which is responsive to theindicating data to pack the object; (ii) a computer system which isresponsive to the indicating data to cause a packing device to pack theobject; and, (iii) a packing device which is responsive to theindicating data to determine the orientation of the object.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the sensing device includes a laser foremitting at least one scanning beam, the scanning beam being directed infirst and second orthogonal directions to thereby generate a raster scanpattern over a scanning patch, the scanning patch being provided in thesensing region such that the scanning patch exposes at least one tag. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the object has a plurality of faces, eachface having at least one tag provided at a respective position thereon.4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one tag identifies theface, and wherein the processor is configured for generating, using thesensed tag, indicating data identifying the face.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein each tag identifies its own position on the interfacesurface.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a second objectin which the first object is to be packed, the second object comprisinga second interface surface having a plurality of second tags printedthereon, each second tag containing second coded data identifying thesecond object and the position of that second tag on the secondinterface surface, wherein the sensing device is configured for: (a)sensing at least one second tag; (b) generating, using the sensed secondtag, second indicating data identifying the second object; and, (c)transferring the second indicating data to the packing device, thepacking device being responsive to the second indicating data to packthe first object in the second object.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe coded data is substantially invisible to the unaided eye.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the coded data is printed using infrared ink.9. The system of claim 1, wherein the coded data is indicative of an EPCassociated with the object.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the codeddata uniquely distinguishes the object from other objects.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the coded data is redundantly encoded. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the coded data is redundantly encodedusing Reed-Solomon encoding.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein thecoded data is provided on the interface surface coincident with visiblemarkings representing at least one of: (a) object information; (b)orientation information; (c) the identity of the object; and, (d) objectstatus information.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the interfacesurface is at least a portion of at least one of: (a) object packaging;(b) object labelling; and, (c) a surface of the object.